Destiny Begins Again
by Allstargamer
Summary: A flash of light over Twilight Town, a crack of thunder, and a new being is born. No memories of his past, he stumbles through his first days of life, unaware of those who have their own plans for him. This is the story of Roxas before the Organization.
1. Chapter 1

This is an original fanfic by me. It was orignially posted on a forum under the name Beginning of Destiny. The name has been changed to avoid confusion.

Chapter 1: Births and Awakenings

Pain. So many things are associated with pain. Fighting, dying, living, and loving. Pain is a constant in all things, even birth. The pain of igniting the spark of life has been considered the most excruciating pains imaginable, Even if it is under the most conventional of circumstances.

But what about the pain of birth under the most unconventional circumstances?

He remembers once being part of someone, or something else. He was at ease. He was complete. He was whole. He remembered what life was before. Then suddenly, darkness consumes him, and he feels it tearing him away from something precious. He feels it ripping something precious out of him.

Separating that precious thing from him, engulfing it and consuming it. Then everything goes numb, and he feels himself floating, drifting to someplace else. He thinks of nothing. He feels empty, and begins to silently drifts away to sleep.

All of a sudden, there is light. He feels it around him, pulling him back to that precious thing. It comforts him. The warmth puts him at ease. It helps him forget the pain. It helps him forget the emptiness inside of him. It helps him forget. It helps him forget his past. It helps him forget his name…

He jolts, as he realizes that the light is pulling his memories away. He desperately tries to hold onto them, and once more he is engulfed in pain. As his memory is torn away, he is once again begins to float away, but now he is thrust away. Away from the light, the darkness, and from everything he ever was. He speeds towards a distant world. With out a form, he passes countless worlds. As he nears his destination, it approaches the twilight hour, and once again he is given form. He descends; he rushes across the sky, red from the setting sun, past the beach, past the streets, past the tower, and into the forest. He lands in a clap of thunder. The wild life scatters.

He is born, and like a newborn, he is weak.

His entire body is burning. His mind is a haze. It hurts when he tries to move.

Fighting past the pain, he struggles to his feet, and desperately starts walking towards the light of the city. Every step he takes feels like his last. He stumbles and falls at what seems like an eternity. He instantly falls asleep, to weak to continue. When he awakes, he will be stronger. But for now he must sleep.

Interlude:

As the last of the sunlight fades, a young boy enters the forest from the hole in the wall surrounding Twilight Town. He stomps around angrily as he scouts out wood to be used as fire wood.

"Your fault for putting it off she says. Should have done it when I asked you, she says. BULL! Why couldn't she just get Mac to do it? He's old enough now! I made those plans to go to the Arcade with Pence and Olette weeks ago!"

He continues his rant, ignorant that his path is obstructed.

"God forbid that the little one should get a little exercise. Why I ottaaaAAAAAH!"

**THUNK!**

The young boy trips hits the ground. Rubbing his head, he rolls over to see what he tripped over.

"What kind of jerk leaves a log with arms, legs and blond, spiky hair in the middle of the middle of the road oh MY GOD? There is a NAKED guy in the middle of the road! Pretty messed up by the looks of things as well. Okay, don't worry buddy, I'll take you to our hideout and me and the gang will take care of you!"

The young boy picks up the limp stranger and slings his arm around his shoulder and starts limping back to town, unaware that they are being watched by others with their own interest in the stranger.

Chapter 1: Births and Awakenings: End


	2. Chapter 2

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum under the name Beginning of Destiny. The name has been changed to avoid confusion.

Chapter 2: A Usual Spot, with an Unusual Crowd.

It is mid afternoon in Twilight Town, and the streets are bustling with life. As the citizens are going about their day, a young man darts through the crowd, moving towards a back alley that he and his friends had taken and made it into a place to call their own. It was the perfect meeting place. It wasn't far from the street shops on Dog Street, which made snack runs short and effortless, and it was only a few blocks down from the train station, making it a breeze to catch the trains to Twilight Town's other areas. The fact the view from atop of the station's clock tower looked over the whole town was just a bonus.

It wasn't this prime location that he was thinking about, though. It was a mystery that fell into his lap four days ago when his mother sent him out to gather fire wood. It was a mystery that had been the source of much thought for him and his friends the last couple days. Unfortunately, he was never the type to think and watch where he was going at the same time, as he crashed head first into another, sending both onto the ground.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" the young man huffed as he sat up to see who he ran into. "That's an easy way for people to really get hurt!"

"Yes it is Hayner. So why don't you pay attention to the road and who's on it instead of going off in your own little world." The large figure, already on his feet grabs Hayner by the collar of his shirt and hoists him up, feet dangling off the ground.

"SEIFER!" Hayner exclaimed! Seifer, the self appointed head of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee, was the last person Hayner wanted to run into. Seifer always had a habit of making things difficult for him.

"Seeing as this is a first time offense, I'm willing to let it slide. But if I ever hear that you run into someone like this again, I'll be forced to take disciplinary actions." Seifer lowered Hayner back to the ground, still holding onto his collar. Hayner immediately recognized that this is Seifer's way of saying he still wanted to talk.

"How very kind of you" Hayner hissed. "Now, is there anything else, or are you holding me this close just because you missed me?"

"You better watch what you say, ya know?" said a large fellow, bounding up to Seifer's side. "Seifer was thinkin' that you and your gang might be up to somethin', since you guys have been so quite the last couple of days, ya know?"

"Ah, Rai, still the brains of the bunch, aren't you?" Hayner sneered.

Rai blushed. "Well, I did get straight D's last semester, ya know?"

"IDIOT" A blue haired girl said rather frankly. She appeared suddenly next to Seifer, giving the other three a good scare.

"Hello Fuu. Still as talkative as ever, I see" Scowled Hayner, still hanging from the hem of his shirt.

"Jeez Fuu, you know I hate it when you do that." Seifer said with a sigh. He then released Hayner's shirt. "Anyways, it's more or less what Rai said. I'm making sure that you aren't going to try to cause any trouble."

"What, just because I haven't been running around town, it automatically means I'm up to something?"

"YES." Fuu said, in that matter of fact tone of hers.

"Oh, come on! Name one time that was ever true!"

"How bout' that one time you put bubble bath and red food coloring in the water fountain uptown?" Rai retorted.

"Okay, I'll admit that in the past, I have been known for my own share of deviltry, but I'm not up to anything, I swear!"

"Alright, but if I hear anything about the sand in the Sandlot being replaced by itching and sneezing powders, I'm coming straight for you!" Seifer declared with authority. With that, he turned around and walked away, quickly followed by Fuu and Rai. Hayner waited until they turned the corner and immediately ran in the other direction. In only about a minute later, he reached the hideout, dubbed the usual spot by him and his friends. He checks over his shoulder to make sure Seifer didn't follow, and then entered through the tattered sheets serving as the entrance.

"Hey Pence! Hey Olette!" Hayner greeted cheerfully. He saw Pence sitting on the radiator snacking on a turkey sandwich while reading his favorite comic book and Olette sat in a chair next to the couch. The couch itself was occupied by a sleeping blond haired stranger.

Pence looked up from his comic book and put it away. "Hey Hayner. What's up?" He said with a big, friendly grin.

Olette Glared at Hayner. "Your late!" she said in a huff.

Hayner started bowing his head. "I know, I know. But I was cornered by Seifer. He thinks I'm 'up to something' just because I haven't been seen in the last couple days. Man, he's so suspicious."

"Well, can you honestly blame him?" Pence asked. "After you replaced the clock tower chime with a recording of farts, I think everybody in town feels safer when they know you've been roaming around out in the open."

"Who asked you?" Hayner said with an annoyed look on his face. He then turned towards Olette. "Anyways, how is our guest doing?"

"Sleeping peacefully, just like yesterday. Mark looks like he could wake up and minute now." Olette answered.

"Wait, Mark? Who the heck is Mark?" Hayner asked bewilderedly.

"It's this thing that she's been doing all morning." Pence said, finishing off the last of his sandwich. He had pulled up another chair and sat down next to the couch. "She's been calling him different names to see which one she thinks works best."

"Now that is just stupid!" Hayner exclaimed. "When he wakes up, just ask him!"

"It's not just about that!" Olette replied huffily as she fluffed the pillows under the stranger's head. "I thought that if he heard his name, he might wake up."

"That's just absurd." Hayner said, dismissing the notion. "He'll wake up when he wakes up!"

"I can see that you are as caring as ever." Olette mocked. "Anyway, we need to get him some clothes for him to wear. He can't just live in your PJ's forever. And I've been thinking of this one outfit that would absolutely look great on Sora, and—"

"Hold the phone!" Hayner yelled. "Sora? Are you actually considering Sora?"

"And why not? Sora is a great name! Besides, he looks like a Sora."

"No, he doesn't. He's not a girl."

"Oh, and Just because Sora sounds like a girls name, it means it isn't good for boys? Well I'll have you know that Sora is a perfectly good boy's name!"

"No, Sora is a girl's name!"

"Hey, shut up you two!" Pence yelled. Hayner and Olette were so busy arguing that they didn't notice that the stranger had moved. "Hey, Sora it's time to wake up." Pence whispered, gently slapping the stranger on the cheek. Slowly, the stranger opened his eyes.

"Where am I?" He sat up, still weak. Olette grabs him by the shoulder and forced him back down.

"Try not to move. You've been asleep for awhile now."

"Thanks, but who are you? Where am I?" He questions.

Pence answered before Olette and Hayner get a chance to say anything. "You're in Twilight Town. I'm Pence, he's Hayner, and she's Olette. You gave us quite a scare Sora."

"Why are you calling me Sora?" The stranger asks.

"Isn't that you're name?" Olette asked back. "You woke up when we called you by that name."

"It sounds familiar, but I don't think it is." The stranger replied.

"Then Sora must be your girlfriend!" Hayner said mischievously with his pinky extended. He loved to pick on people.

"I don't think that's it either. I can't remember anything. Who am I?"

The stranger's question silenced the room. Olette and Pence couldn't think of a way to answer his question. They had never experienced anything like this. They never expected to that they were dealing with someone who had amnesia. The tension was mounting, until Hayner broke the silence. For all of his flaws, there were reasons why he's considered the unofficial leader of the trio by the town's folk. Dealing with people was one of them.

"You're asking the wrong guys. I found you butt naked in the woods a couple days ago. No idea how you got there."

"I see…" the stranger said with a sad look in his eyes.

"Aw, cheer up buddy! I'm sure you'll get your memory back, and until then, you're one of us!"

"That's a great idea!" Pence and Olette exclaimed.

"Okay, it's getting late. We'll deal with your memory thing another time. Right now, you need to eat and go back to sleep, or else you'll never recover. Olette, give me a hand!"

Olette and Hayner moved a table from the corner of the wall over beside the stranger. Olette grabs a lamp and turned it on while Pence dug through his fridge and pulled out another sandwich and a carton of milk. He then carried it over to the table.

"Hope you like tuna salad and Swiss cheese!" He said as he placed the food on the table.

"Tomorrow, I want to take you shopping for some decent clothes, alright?" Olette asked.

"That's fine, but why are you doing this for me?" The stranger pondered, rather confused.

"Simple. We have a feeling that you're not a bad person!" Hayner answered cheerfully. And with that, the trio said good night to the stranger and left. The Stranger rather confused at this point, thought about the weirdness that had occurred during his rather short day as he ate. Once he ate the sandwich, he finished off his milk and started drifting back to sleep.

Chapter 2: End


	3. Chapter 3 Part 1

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: End

Chapter Three: Dark Rendezvous PT-1

Shortly after Hayner had carried off the sleeping Stranger, another stranger than, just as mysterious as the last, arrived on the scene. He looks around, inspecting the area that he had watched Hayner trot around in his anger just before carrying off the Stranger, and he thinks that it's a good thing these long black coats make it difficult to be spotted in the dark. One of the perks of being in the Organization is that the wardrobe can be both fashionable and functional. He then picks up the bundle of sticks Hayner had dropped and picked out a choice one. With an almost blinding burst of light, the end of the stick is instantly set ablaze to light his way.

"All right, time to see where the new guy was born." He tells himself. He then sets off in the direction that the Stranger had come from only a few minutes earlier. He shortly comes into a clearing, in the middle of which is a large impact site. He instantly thrusts the torch into the ground and places the bundle next to the crater and descends into the hole. He stands at the center and realizes the impossibility of the situation.

After some thought, he raises his arm into the air and gives a loud snap, ringing throughout the forest with the intent to summon. In response, two silver creatures slither into view as if from nowhere, their slender bodies and snake like arms twisting and bending in unnatural and unimaginable ways. Their nearly pale white leather hide greatly contrasts the black leather coat of their master. They stand before the dark robed figure, awaiting instructions.

"Okay, you, on the left. Go find Saix and tell him we have a problem with the matter we discussed. Don't worry; he'll know what it is. And you on the right. Go to town and get me a burger, some fries and some sea salt ice cream for dessert. I haven't eaten anything all day."

After hearing their orders, the creatures disappear into the air, leaving as silent as they came. Alone again, he turns his attention to the wood, selecting choice pieces and arranging them in a teepee structure. He then immediately harvests some dried field grass and sticks it into the miniature wooden structure. Once finished, he retrieves his torch from earlier and throws it in with the dried grass, and with a wave of his hand over his creation, it immediately ignites. With the surrounding area now a glow in the light of the fire, he sits down on a log and with a sigh, he removes his hood, revealing a man that looks to be in his early twenties with small triangle tattoos under each eye, and spiky, shoulder length hair, as wild and as red as the fire. He stares into the fire and starts to lose himself in the dance of the flames.

FWUMP!

The sound of a large parcel being dropped snaps him out of his trance. He looks over and sees the creature that he sent into a town standing in front of a burlap bag. In his large, spear like hands, he holds a carton of sea salt ice cream. The red haired man walks over to the bag and looks in it, seeing four bags from Twilight Town's premier burger joint, a stack of paper bowls, a plastic ice cream spoon, and a bag of plastic spoons. He looks at the silver being with a bewildered look on his face.

"How the hell did you lug this bag with that scrawny Dusk body of yours?" He asked, scratching his head. He then reached into the bag and pulled out one of the bags and proceeded eating. "Hey, why don't you go scout out where the newbie is?" He asked, bread and beef crumbs spilling out his mouth. Just as soon as he had finished with his request, the Dusk slithered back into nothingness, disappearing once again.

By the time midnight had approached, the man in black had already eaten two bags worth of food and had started on preparing his dessert. He scooped some of the ice cream into the bowl gusto and vigor, and as he retrieved a plastic spoon, he began thinking of how much he loved Sea Salt ice cream before he was transformed. Just as he was about to enjoy his favorite ice cream, the Dusk slithered back into view.

"Typical" He said to himself, rather peeved. "I'm always interrupted when I'm trying to enjoy my favorite ice cream." He sets his bowl down and concentrates on the Dusk, he stares at it with intent in his eyes, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers. After about a minute, he once again speaks.

"Okay, he's in a back alley that was made into a hideout by a couple of kids. Good work. Now, I have one more task for you. Saix told me that this mission was top priority, handed to him straight from the Boss man's mouth. It's been four hours since I sent your buddy to fetch Mr. 'Top Priority' Saix, and he has yet to show that mug he calls a face. Go see what's taking so long."

With its last order, the Dusk slithers into the air and then into nothingness one final time. Relieved to be free of distractions, he once again picks up his ice cream bowl. He picks up the spoon and brings it to his lips. He drools in anticipation as he is about to taste the sweet, salty, taste that has made Sea salt ice cream beloved throughout the worlds.

"Good evening Axel" a voice rang out from the air. "Am I interrupting anything?"

Now he shows up, a very annoyed Axel thinks. He puts the spoon down and returns the bowl to the ground. Wisps of Darkness sprout out of the ground and weave a door to the plane of existence known as betwixt and between. Emerging from that door is the right hand of the superior, Saix, the Lunar Diviner!

Chapter 3: Dark Rendezvous PT-1 end.


	4. Chapter 3 Part 2

Chapter 3: Dark Rendezvous PT-2: Confrontation.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Axel barked! "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting!?!"

"My apologies." Saix stated calmly, with his arms crossed and pressed against his lower chest. The Dark Corridor that he had exited from started to slowly dissolve as Saix slowly approached Axel, still seated on the log, tending the fire. "I was… held up in certain matters."

Axel peers over his shoulder, analyzing his compatriot. "Whatever." He murmured, and he then returned his gaze towards the fire.

"So, refresh my memory, Axel." Saix said with a coy look in his eye. "What exactly is the matter at hand?"

"The other worlds are very beautiful so far away from town." Axel said with wonderment.

"Yes I'm sure they are. Now if we can get back on track, what exactly are you doing here? Does it have anything to do with that rather large hole?" Saix asked, still sounding rather coy.

"Think it might rain tomorrow? It'd be a damn shame if it did?"

Saix, no longer calm, started to get irritable with Axel.

"Right. Stars. Rain. Bad thing. Now just tell me—"

"Although, if you think about it, a little rain might do this forest a world of good. When I was looking for stuff to start the camp fire with, I saw a lot of dried grass. That can't be—"

Saix, far past annoyed with Axel dodging the questions, spun him around to look him in the eyes while holding on jerking him by the collar.

"_Dude_, personal space!"

"I don't give a rat's ass about your personal space! Tell me what the Hell you're doing here right now!" Saix roared his face scrunched in anger. After a few seconds of thought, Axel hoisted up one of the two remaining bags he had retrieved from the burlap sack.

"You ordered the _Holly Halitosis_ special with extra onions and onion rings, right?"

**"THIS IS WHY I CAME ALL THE WAY TO TWILIGHT TOWN FOR?!? ****A STUPID SANDWICH?!?"** Saix roared, enraged beyond belief. So enraged, that he almost didn't notice the fire erupting in Axel's unoccupied hand and solidifying into a large bladed chakram! At the last second, He managed to jump back, releasing Axel as he brought his chakram around in a horizontal swipe against the bewildered Saix, scraping him through his skin. He jumps back just out of Axel's lunging distance, pressing a forearm against the cut across his stomach.

"Axel, what is the meaning of this!? What has brought about this betrayal!?" Saix demanded, but Axel, now on his feet, starts to laugh.

"Don't patronize me Zexion, you limp wristed sissy!" Axel cackled, as he twirls around his chakram. He flings the bag out into the forest, as he chuckles maliciously. "I know it's you. Drop the illusion!"

After hearing this, Saix lowered his head, and a pale blue light enveloped his body and he began to change. His form became smaller, his physique became less defined, and his long, dark blue hair and rugged, aged features dissolve away, revealing a youth to be about 21 with short gray hair, excluding the bangs that cascade over his right eye. This was none other than No. 6 of the Organization, Zexion, the Cloaked Schemer, posing as Saix! He looked back up towards Axel, anger burning on his face.

"How did you know?" Zexion demanded, far away from the cool and calm persona that had helped him wrap hundreds of beings around his finger. "My illusion was seamless! Sight, sound, even his scent was duplicated perfectly to scream Saix!"

"Tch, tch, tch!" Axel said, waving his finger back and forth. "You have a long way to go if you honestly believe you'll be able to fool anyone with a trick like that! You really have got to improve your acting skills."

"MY ACTING SKILLS?!? What does acting have to do with anything?"

"Everything! While your illusion was seamless, as you have said, your body language, your speech, and even your persona gave you away! Saix isn't that well spoken, and he doesn't cross his forearms and press them against his body like you did. And he defiantly doesn't like to beat around the bush by asking me time consuming questions, and unless you're the big boss, he never **ever** apologizes to anyone! Before you try to impersonate other people, need to learn everything about who they are. I suggest that you take that little tip and commit it to memory. Now, it's time for you to answer my question. Where's Saix?"

Zexion, taking this chance to compose himself. "He's not coming." He stated calmly. "I intercepted the Dusk before he could get the message. But it doesn't matter. Axel, I demand that you tell me what's going on here! As one of the original six, my word—"

"Means jack squat!" Axel interrupted.

"What did you say?" Demanded Zexion in a low, hushed tone, his visible eye glaring at Axel.

"You heard me. Don't think that I don't know about how Saix bumped you out of the position of being the Boss's right hand. I honestly can't blame the boss for replacing you though, if the haphazard tactics from earlier tonight are anything to go by."

"HA-HAPHAZARD!?! REPLACED!?!" Zexion stuttered, looking as if he'd been shot.

"Why, of course! Why else would he have you babysit the lower levels of Castle Oblivion? Your methods are slow, delicate, and have a high failure rate. It's probably your fault why the project is so far behind schedule."

"YOU'RE LYING!"

"Sorry Zexy, but face facts. You're like me now. Disposable."

"DAMN YOU!" Zexion yelled. He then holds out his hand and a book appeared in the same pale blue light that Zexion emitted when he dropped his illusion. "I TOLD THE SUPERIOR THAT RECRUITING YOU WAS A BAD MOVE, AND NOW I PLAN ON RECTIFYING IT!"

"Huh, so that's your _Mad__ illusionist_. Never seen it before." Axel then stretched out his empty hand and fire once again erupted from nowhere and solidified into a second Chakram. He then crouches down; his feet spread apart diagonally, and crossed his arms, ready to attack.

"Let's see how you and your _Mad__ illusionist_ stand up to my _Flyin' Hellfire!_

Chapter 3: Dark Rendezvous Pt-2: Confrontation. End.


	5. Chapter 3 Part 3

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Dark Rendezvous Pt-3: Conflict.

And with those words, Axel made a mad dash towards Zexion, and before he could react, was slashed into thirds, and dissolved into nothingness. Coming to a stop a few feet past where Zexion once stood, Axel looked back. "That's it? What a crock! It shouldn't be that easy." he murmured. Suddenly he felt an intense, sharp pain in his lower back, as if he had been stabbed.

"It isn't." a familiar voice from behind stated maliciously. Axel peered over his shoulder, and to his astonishment, he saw Zexion, intact, holding a knife that had been plunged into Axel's lower hip. With an evil sneer, Zexion twists the knife, sending a wave of pain through Axel.

"GRAAAAAH!!" Axel grunted. Fighting past the pain, Axel swings one of his chakram around and once again striking down Zexion. He then starts looking around, trying to guess where the next possible attack might have come from. It's now that he notices a thick fog covering the clearing that he had been occupying for the last few hours.

"When the hell did this fog roll in!? Is this Zexion's doing!?" He asked himself.

"Bingo!" Zexion's voice chirped. Axel immediately concentrated on Zexion's voice. It was a trait that he had picked up from the experience of being in many fights over his life. "This fog is a special illusion that distorts the senses. Not only does it reduce the victim's field of vision to only a few feet, it also distorts the senses of smell and sound."

Suddenly, Axel heard the sound of an object flying through the air. He couldn't discern what direction it or Zexion's voice was coming from. He took a chance and ducked to the left, getting cut on the cheek by a throwing knife. He then whipped around his chakram, sending a fire ball in what he thought was the location of the knife came from.

"Nice aim. _Clearly_ first rate." Zexion's disembodied voice said sarcastically. Immediately, three more throwing knives could be heard.

"SHUT UP!" Axel barked angrily as he jumped back as the knives impaled themselves into the ground. This time, Axels throws his chakram, and a few minutes the sound of wood being impaled echoed through out fog.

"You just threw away your weapon genius! Don't you see that I've got you beat!?" This time, five knives zoom into view right in front of Axel. He back steps to dodge and as they are lodged into the ground, three more impale themselves in Axel's body, two in the back of each shoulder, and one in the back of his thigh.

Blocking out the pain, Axel thinks of the problem at hand as he pulled out the knives. _Okay, something weird is going on. I know that Zexion's freaky fog dulls the senses, but this is too much. Those knives came from two different directions, and I know that he isn't fast enough to throw five of those knives, and then circle around me in time to throw the three that he somehow stuck in my__ back and leg__. Okay, it's time for a change in tactics! _

With the knives removed, Axel stands up raises his remaining chakram in the air and starts to spin it around his finger. Slowly at first, and then he starts to build up speed.

"What the **hell** are you doing!? Have you lost it?!" Zexion, still shrouded in his fog, demanded with suspicion of Axel's actions.

"Maybe, maybe not. You'll just have to wait and see." Axel said earnest, a grin growing wider on his face.

"I think not!" Zexion replied, not wanting to give Axel a chance. With those words, a barrage of throwing knives came from every direction. Axel, now with a good idea of what his radius of sight is, started to expertly dodge the Zexion's assault, dancing around the flying knives with a smile on face, in spite the fact that one false move would mean oblivion. Not once did he stop twirling his chakram. Eventually, his chakram wasn't spinning **around** his finger as much as on **top** of his finger. When it reached top speed, Axel's smile grew into a broad grin.

"Hey, Zexion! You wouldn't happen to have an umbrella, would ya?"

"What, why?"

"Because it looks like it's about to _rain_!"

Axel crouches down, raises one leg extended, lowered his spinning chakram as low as he could bring it.

_"Flyin' Hellfire…"_

The blades of Axel's chakram erupt in fire, creating a spinning ring of fire around the outside of the metal ring. He thrusts it up into the air, sending it a mile up into the sky.

_"SCORCH THE EARTH!"_

With that, the chakram sends down a barrage of fireballs into the mist, lighting up the field. The sound of explosions echoed through out the fog.

"GAH!" Zexion yelled. Suddenly, the mist started to clear, revealing four Zexion lookalikes with all white eyes. Each of the four was holding throwing knives, and each was placed at opposite ends of the field. Scattered through out the field were burnt patches of field grass where a fire ball had landed. The chakram that had been spinning up in the air finally started to slow down and make it's decent. Pleased with himself, Axel jumped five feet in the air and caught his chakram while doing a triple back flip with his eyes closed, then landed in a graceful three point landing.

"Don't get cocky, you smug son of a bitch!" Zexion raved. Axel, facing away from him with his eyes closed heard Zexion stomping, which he could only have imagined in anger of Axel's successful attack. "How the hell did you do that!? That wasn't one of your attacks!"

Axel opened his eyes and turned around, now being able to discern where he was, chuckling under his breath. "It's called 'improvisation,' numb nuts. For a genius, you're sure not very—"

Axel was stunned when he finally saw Zexion himself. He was standing next to Axel's campfire stomping out a burning book that looked exactly like his_ Mad illusionist_, which he held under his arm, and a fifth doppelganger standing right next to him. It wasn't this bizarre sight that stopped Axel mid sentence, though. It was the objects that he was holding in each hand, particularly a bowl with half eaten ice cream in his right hand, and a spoon in his left.

"YOU JERK! YOU STOLE MY ICE CREAM!" hollered Axel, now every bit as angry as Zexion. "I WAS GOING TO EAT THAT ONCE I THORUOGHLY KICKED YOUR ASS!"

"Oh, be silent!" Zexion said after discarding the bowl and spoon. "I'm the one who has something to be mad about!"

"Oh, really? Why, what ever could that be?" Axel asked in a mocking tone of concern.

Zexion, fully knowing that Axel was mocking him, weighed weather or not he should explain it to Axel. However, Zexion could never pass up a chance to flaunt his intelligence, and ultimately decided that the information would do him no good. It would also buy him time to plan his next move.

"You destroyed my _Mad__ illusionist,_ that's what."

"Don't give me that! Your weapon is right there, under your arm! And since when did you decide to copy off of Demyx's shtick!"

"It's more than just my weapon, you moron! The _Mad illusionist_ is an actual book. Or rather, a series of books."

"Series?" Axel asked with a raised eyebrow. His curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"Yes, a series. It's a one of a kind series of books written by a leader of Radiant Garden two hundred years ago, of which I have, or had rather, every single copy. Like me, he loved to work with illusions, making them my ideal weapons. Like any Organization member, I can channel my power by using these books as an intermediate. But unlike all the others, my powers are altered based on what book I have with me. The volume you destroyed was volume number X, 'The Mystic Mist,' which was all about crippling your enemy's perceptions by trapping them in a fog."

He took the book he had under his arm and opened it, holding his free hand over the pages. The book flashed with pale blue light, and just as it faded, the throwing knives being held by the five remaining doppelgangers disappeared, as well as the knives that had been lodged into the ground of the battle damaged field. In their place, five long swords appeared in the hands of the clones. "This is volume number XXIII, 'Mirror Mischief!' With it, I can create mirror images of myself and arm them any way I see fit! Now I'm going to use it to make you pay for destroying a book from my collection!"

With that, the doppelgangers rushed towards Axel, blades raised! Axel kneeled down and held his chakram over his head, stopping the blades from reaching him, and successfully blocking the assault.

"Testy, aren't you?" Axel patronized. He then broke through their formation, and leapt into the air, forward somersaulting five feet over the clone in front of him. On his decent, he extended his legs, slamming his heel into the back of the head of the clone, which then disappeared into thin air. Upon landing, he spun around and in a horizontal swipe, slashed two more of the clones in one move. He then slipped the chakram onto his wrist and blasted the two remaining clones with a couple firaga spells. "These things are _just_ like you Zexy! Ugly _and_ weak!"

"Y-you haven't won yet" Zexion barked, starting to get nervous. Once again, he held his hand over the pages and the book began to glow pale blue. More clones began to form in the same pale blue light.

"Oh no you don't!" Axel warned. He then threw one more fireball, hitting the book and knocking it out of Zexion's hand.

**"****NO!****"** Zexion cried. As the book burned, the new doppelgangers faded away. Panicked, Zexion looked over to Axel, and then the chakram impaled in the tree nearby. Axel slowly started to approach Zexion.

"What's the matter? Summon another book. Or can you only carry two at a time?" Axel sneered. With that, Zexion ran toward the chakram.

Axel, immediately noticing Zexion's intent, started to running toward his chakram in full sprint. "Come back here!" he hollered. Axel prided himself as being one of the fastest in the Organization, but couldn't make up for Zexion's head start. Zexion reached it first, and with one powerful pull, yanked it out, sending splinters flying and leaving a noticeable gash in the trunk. He then starts running towards Axel.

"**I WON'T LET YOU BEAT ME!! I CAN'T LET YOU****"** Zexion screamed at the top of his lungs, all reason cast out of his mind. He swung wildly as Axel came into range. Axel stopped just short of Zexion's attack and with a powerful swing, knocked the chakram out of his hand and into the air, and where by Axel's will, dissolved back into flame. He immediately followed with a high kick to Zexion's chin, striking him with all he had.

Zexion was sent sailing, and landed ten feet away, where then slid several feet on the slick grass, still wet from his own from his own mystic mist, until he was stopped by the foot of a new individual. Zexion crawled back and looked over at Axel, still standing where they had clashed. He was staring past Zexion with a dumbfounded and surprised look on his face, his jaw looking like it was about to fall off. Rubbing his chin in an effort to sooth the pain Axel inflicted on him, he turned around to see what who or what could render Axel in such a state.

"Ow… Who?" Zexion murmured, but as soon as he saw who it was, he gasped and leapt back. What he saw was another person wearing the same exact coat as he and Axel. He stood regally, like a king standing in front of his subjects. His long, silver hair adorned his head like a crown. His dark skin shined like bronze in the moon light, and piercing yellow eyes that would have invoked fear in the staunchest of hearts. Instantly recognizing the individual and what his presence could mean for him, Zexion cried in astonishment and fear:

"LORD XEMNAS!"

Chapter 3: Dark Rendezvous Pt-3: Conflict: End.


	6. Chapter 3 Part 4

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Dark Rendezvous Pt-4: The Bottom line.

"BOSS XEMNAS!" Axel yelled in amazement as he ran up to his superior, stopping just a few steps behind Zexion. He quickly dismissed his weapon, it evaporating back into flames. Zexion, after wiping himself off, rose to his feet, nervously waiting for Xemnas to speak. Xemnas strolled pass the two and gazed around the battle field. With the sound of the battle now a memory, the tension began to mount in the silence of the forest. A few minutes had passed with out a word being spoken. Unable to bear the tension, Axel broke the silence.

"Look, Boss, I was just—"

"Baiting a fellow Organization member into conflict" Xemnas interrupted, still facing away from the two.

"Well…" Axel muttered timidly. Desperately trying to think of a reply, and failing, he started scratching his head and looked away. Out of everyone in the Organization, Xemnas was the only one Axel couldn't read. It scared him not being able to know what he was thinking. He looked over to Zexion, who had, for the most part, regained his composure, but still had a nervous look in his eye. His right hand had been pressed once again to his lower chest, and his left hand had been brought up to his chin, index finger resting just under his mouth. Axel new immediately that Zexion, if he could still feel fear, was scared out of his mind.

"If you don't mind my asking," Zexion said sheepishly, "When exactly did you get here?"

Xemnas, still surveying the field, raised a bag into the air. Axel instantly recognized it as the bag he had discarded earlier.

_Damn near the whole time, eh? That can't be good._ Axel thought to himself.

"Axel." Xemnas said loudly to grab attention.

"A wha?" Axel grunted, caught rather off guard.

"Tricking a fellow member into battle is indeed a grave offense." Xemnas stated quietly.

"Oh, crap!" Axel said under his breath. He glanced over to Zexion, whose posture had become relaxed due to Xemnas's comment. He believed that he was off the hook for his actions. Axel sneered at the thought of Zexion going unpunished while he would.

"However…" Xemnas said as he turned around to look at the two. Hearing this, both of the two tensed back up. "This conflict would have never occurred if Zexion hadn't disobeyed me."

Panicked, Zexion began to try to think of an excuse.

"Lord Xemnas, I can—"

"Save it." Xemnas stated. He then looked Zexion straight in the eyes. "I am not in the mood for your excuses. Just tell me one thing. You said earlier that you 'intercepted' the Dusk Axel sent out. What did you mean by that?"

Zexion's mind began racing, desperately trying to think of an explanation that would please Xemnas, who was still glaring at Zexion. Axel, who had moved away from Zexion in order not to get involved in their dispute, started looking back and forth between the two.

"Well?" Xemnas asked, growing impatient.

"I-I…" the normally very articulate Zexion stuttered, failing at finding the words.

After a few more moments, Xemnas realized that Zexion wouldn't be able to produce a favorable response. He closed his eyes for a moment. After a few seconds, he spoke, in a soft, empathetic voice.

"So, that Dusk no longer…exists." He said with a soft, almost sad look on his face. Axel just starred at him. He had never seen them act anything like this. _Must be an original six thing_. He thought to himself.

Almost immediately, Xemnas's stern features returned. He opened his eyes and once again glared at Zexion. He extended his right hand towards Zexion, open palm facing him.

"You do realize that I can't let this go unpunished, Zexion." Xemnas said in the voice of a King about to dispense punishment onto one of his unruly knights. Zexion, with fear of knowing full well what this punishment might be, attempted to plead his case.

"Lord Xemnas, Plea-"Zexion abruptly stopped. He clutched his throat with both hands and fell to his knees, eyes wide in pain.

"Axel!" Xemnas hollered. He glanced over at Axel's direction. Axel looked back at Xemnas.

"Pay attention to what happens next, and know why I am the King of all Nobodies." And with that, Xemnas clutched his hand, as if he were wrapping his fingers around some unseen object. Once it looked like he got a good grip, at least from Axel's point of view, around the invisible object, Xemnas slowly retracted his arm, twisting his hand as he brought it back to his body.

This invoked a reaction of sorts in Zexion, in that as Xemnas was retracting his arm, Zexion released his neck and began to slam his fists on the ground in front of him, writhing in pain. All of a sudden, a thin mist like gas began to come off of him, and right before Axel's eyes, Zexion began to change.

Zexion's fingers grew longer, closing in onto each other, until they formed into a spear like appendages. His feet stretched out, growing longer and thinner as his toes extend out to a point. His arms became thinner, and as they began to contort uncontrollably, his legs also began to thin out. Lastly, his waist started to shrink, as if he were being cinched by an invisible corset, cinching Zexion's waist to impossibly small dimensions. Fighting to keep the two burgers and fries from earlier down, Axel watched on as Zexion continued changing.

Zexion watched himself alter in horror attire started to come alive, as it too started to change. The sleeve openings of his coat and pants shrank, and merged with his boots and gloves. The slack left from the arms of his coat and his pants shrank, fitting to his now misshapen form. As if that weren't enough, the tail to his coat shrank to just above the hem of the pants, where they then merged, creating a one piece zipped up full body suit. As the ropes coming out of his hood slithered up and disappeared into the holes, the zipper also disappeared into the ever changing suit. Just as this latest transformation ended, Zexion's suit changed from black to pale silver. Black rings appeared around his spear like hands as black streaks ran from the tip of his toes, up the sides of his legs and up his waist. Finally, the hood that rested on the back of his neck and spine crawled up his neck, over his head, and covered his terrified face, an emblem flashing on the forehead. Low and behold, Zexion had transformed into a Dusk right before the eyes of Axel and Xemnas!

"HOLY SHIT!" Axel yelled in a mixture of surprise, disgust, and fear for his own self being. "YOU TURNED HIM INTO DUSK!"

"Oh gee, is it that obvious?" Xemnas sneered in a rare moment of sarcasm. "Your perception is astounding."

"Uh, Zexion may not be my favorite guy, but don't you think that's a little harsh?" Axel asked nervously. "He's a member of Organization XII. Even he deserves better than that!"

Xemnas stood silently, his hand still clutched around the invisible object. He stood there for a couple minutes, looking at the Dusk formally known as Zexion writhe in pain.

"Axel, why do we of the twelfth order toil tirelessly on the completion of our [Iproject[/I" Xemnas asked.

"What are you talking about Boss? You said it yourself that we work for the benefit of all Nobodies!"

"Exactly. We only call ourselves Organization XII to honor the twelve strongest Nobodies. The ones who are able to remember what it was like to be human. In truth, our Organization is much more expansive. All of the Nobodies under our command are a part of this grand operation of ours. They put their trust in us, and in return, we guide them. The Dusks, which are our greatest numbers, trust in us to restore them. They would willingly go to their doom if it meant furthering our cause."

"Huh? But isn't that what they are? Mindless lackeys?"

"They may be 'lackeys,' but they are far from mindless. In fact, they are our most loyal servants **because** they know something that we don't."

"Oh yeah, what?"

At that moment, both looked at the Dusk, who was still writhing in pain.

"They are the only ones who even have an inkling of what it could be like, not to exist. Because they are the least of all Nobodies, they are the ones who dance upon the line between existence and oblivion, unable to move away from it. Because of that, they trust us to one day restore them. I will not allow any Nobody to abuse that trust, no matter who they are. Whether they are of the Original Six…"

Xemnas looked Axel straight in the eye and gave him a big, evil grin. "Or an eighth seat with tendencies of insubordination. And if you think this is bad, you should see how I treat traitors."

Axel smiled and gulped nervously. "I Got it." Axel squeaked. With that, Xemnas turned his attention back to the Dusk, coiled in pain. He lifts up his clutched hand and brings it around his adjacent shoulder. In one swift motion, he throws his arm back out, uncoiling his grip in the Dusk's direction. Axel watched the Dusk transform, in a reversal of the same grotesque manner that he had originally, back into Zexion. At the end, Zexion was on his arms and knees sweat running down his face and raining down onto the ground.

"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah…" Zexion panted loudly, his eyes so wide, they looked as if they were about to fall out of his head. Xemnas walked over to and went down onto one knee and looked at him.

"So untrusting. I honestly thought we were above such notions as deceit. You and I are of the Original Six, the founders of the Organization. Harbingers of the rise of our kind. I am disappointed."

Xemnas grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him onto his feet.

"I had considered relieving stewardship of Castle Oblivion from Marluxia and hand it over to you, but thanks to this little stunt, you blew your chance. Now return to your post and resume your duties until I say otherwise. Now go."

With out saying word, Zexion limped away. A Dark Corridor opens up and a defeated Zexion silently walks away without looking at Axel or Xemnas, and disappears in to the Darkness. As the Dark Corridor closed, Xemnas started walking toward the camp fire.

"Well? Are you coming?" Xemnas asked Axel with a passing glance. "I may not be Saix, but I feel that even I am suited enough in dealing with this case."

"Uh, Sure, but…" Axel said nervously. He then pointed to himself. "What about me? Don't I get punished as well?"

"You're currently on a very important mission. I'm willing to forgo your punishment in regards to this." Xemnas said. "That is, unless you want to be punished?"

"NO, NO! That's quite alright!" Axel said hastily, not wanting to go through what Zexion just did.

Xemnas chuckles darkly as he sits down on one of the logs. He opens the bag that he had been carrying the whole time and took the burger out from its wrapping and took a big bite.

"Whoa, wait a minute! You're not actually going to eat that, are you?" Axel asked.

"What do you mean? It's not like it landed on the ground, and you were joking about it being a 'Holy Halitosis' thing…"

"That's just it. I wasn't joking. They really do have a burger special that's called _Holy Halitosis!_ I heard that after eating one of those, this one guy's breath stank for weeks, no matter what he did!"

Xemnas looked at Axel, then at the burger. "Not bad, and I've certainly had worse." Xemnas said as he took another bite. He removed the onion rings and proceeded to eat them. Axel sighed, and after making note that his seat was up wind from Xemnas, and retrieved the final bag from the burlap sack. He had worked up an appetite from his battle with Zexion, and he thought it would be rude to have his dessert while his boss was still eating. The duo ate in silence for a couple minutes.

"So, the fact that you aren't back at headquarters by now and from what I gathered from the Dusk you sent asking for Saix, I take it there is a problem with the young one." Xemnas stated, finishing his last onion ring.

"Young one? Oh, you mean the newbie!" Axel said, he himself finishing the last of his fries. He thrust his thumb in the direction of the hole. "Well for starters, he likes to make flashy entrances."

Xemnas looked at the crater, eyes wide and jaw dropped with genuine surprise. Axel couldn't help but smile, seeing his Boss as acting so out of character.

"Are you serious?" Xemnas demanded. "He actually did all that?!"

"Mmhmm." Axel hummed, once more taking the ice cream and preparing a bowl. "He also put on quite the light show too. Defiantly unnatural, since it really isn't how any of us were born. Ice cream? It'd help with the stink breath." Axel said, taking what little advantage he could from Xemnas's dazed state.

"Sure." Xemnas muttered as he took the bowl. He started eating with a profound look of deep thought on his face. "What else?"

"Well for starters, he's as weak as a new born baby. He could barely walk." Axel said, relaying his observations from earlier that night as he prepared another bowl for himself. "I don't remember being like that when I was born, and I sure as hell wasn't naked!"

"Huh. Unconventional circumstances, unconventional birth." Xemnas muttered to himself.

"Did you say something?" Axel asked.

"Nothing." Xemnas said. "What does he look like?"

"He had spiky hair. Looked like he was a dirty blond. Roughly five feet tall and looked to be between the ages of fourteen and sixteen."

"And where is the young one now?"

"By the time I had found him, he had stumbled his way to the hole in the wall of Twilight Town. He had collapsed right in front of the hole. Before I could grab him, one of the locals came out and took him into town. I already had a dusk track down his location. I felt it was best to report in before proceeding."

Xemnas, finished with his ice cream, sat with his elbows resting on his knees, fingers interlaced.

"Do we even need him? I mean he really doesn't seem all that useful.

"Axel, this isn't good." Xemnas said in a tone of caution. "If the young one isn't in adequate shape, then his first mission that I had lined up for him, one that I believe is imperative to the survival of Organization, could end in disaster for our kind."

"And what kind of mission would that be?" Axel asked, curious as to why there would be such a need for the newbie.

"The Heartless in the area around Twilight Town have been acting up. I'm worried that they might come here, to this world." Xemnas said.

"Oh." Axel murmured. "That is bad. But you also know that there is a chance where they might not even show up around here."

"Maybe so, but I don't want to take any chance. The Heartless can have every other world for all I care, but not Twilight town."

"You don't care." Axel said with a tone of slight disgust and patronization. He turned away from Xemnas for a moment to throw another log on the dying fire. "But I see why you're so edgy about it. Twilight Town is our birthing grounds. If anything were to happen to it, there would be no way for Nobodies to be born and our numbers would just start to dwindle until there are none of us left."

"Exactly." Xemnas stated, arms freely resting on his knees.

"But what in the world do you think the newbie can do about it?" Axel asked.

"I have reasons to believe that he has a very special power. A power that can not only protect Twilight Town, but speed up the production of our project ten fold."

Axel fell silent. Something about Xemnas's statement struck him as unusual. Xemnas stood up and dusted himself off.

"From now on, you report to me on this matter. Continue watching the young one, and if nothing changes in the next seven days, be sure to contact me via Dusk messenger. If he recovers, then approach him with caution. Is this clear?" Xemnas commanded, waving his finger at Axel.

"Crystal. But before you go, can I ask you something?" Axel asked.

"Very well."

"Did you have something to do with this? The newbie's birth, I mean."

Xemnas looked at Axel, and lifted his hood over his head. As his face became covered with shadows, Axel could have sworn he saw a big, sinister grin.

"Yes and No." Xemnas said in a playful tone.

"Wait, what do you-"Axel tried to ask as he stood up and reached out his hand towards Xemnas. But before he could finish, dark wisps sprouted from Xemnas's feet and intertwined around him, consuming him in a Dark Corridor. As the Dark Corridor faded, the place where Xemnas once stood laid vacant.

"Crap." Axel croaked. "I hate it when he does that." He then proceeded to clean up the camp ground, cleaning up the bowls, spoons, paper bags, the ice cream carton and wrappers. He stuffed them all into the burlap sack and slung it over his shoulder. He then checked his watch which he kept in his side pocket. After that, he raised his free hand into the air and snapped, summoning Dusk.

"Go to HQ and tell everyone to stay upwind of Xemnas for a while. Don't worry about any questions they might have. They'll know what you'll mean they see him. Or smell him anyways."

After the Dusk slithered into the air, Axel picked up a stick roughly the same size as the first and stuck the end into the fire, creating a torch. He then looked at the fire, concentrating on it, watching it diminish until it the coals went cold. When all was done, he started walking back to town, garbage bag in tow, reflecting on the events of the night and thinking that things will never be quite the same once the sun rises.

Pt-4: The Bottom Line. End

Chapter 3: Dark Rendezvous. End

* * *


	7. Chapter 4

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Good Morning Twilight Town!

It's Saturday morning in Twilight Town, and the streets have come alive after the rise of the sun. The streets that were barren the night before started to fill up, coming alive with the citizens of the town emptied into the streets. The blond haired stranger, tucked away in a secluded back alley, had been up long before the town's citizens, his boundless energy a clear contrast to the lifelessness he was the previous day. After raiding Pence's fridge for a makeshift breakfast of a ham sandwich on rye bread, an apple, and a bottle of orange juice, he started excising, unable to hold still.

"197, 198, 199…" The stranger grunted, with his fingers laced behind his head, squatting and standing up repeatedly.

"200!" The stranger grunted, squatting one final time. With that, he heard the sound of clapping ring out into the alley. He turned around to see Olette clapping her hands together. She was wearing a sleeveless orange sundress with white shoulder straps. The dress was adorned with a sunflower pattern, and it had a belt loop with a belt that blended into the dress, cinching it comfortably and securely around her waist, with the hem of her dress reaching down to just above her knees. She also wore sandals with a four inch heel, bringing her height to just about the same as the Stranger's. Upon her head was a white sun hat with a 6 inch brim and an orange ribbon wrapped around it and into a bow. With an orange handbag slung over her shoulder, she had two wrist bands on each hand and a heart shaped earring in each ear.

"Well, look who's up and raring to go!" Olette said with a slight chuckle. "It's hard to believe that just yesterday, you were pretty much bedridden."

"Hey, uh, Olette!" the Stranger said, with a slight surprise. "You look really good!"

"What, this old thing?" Olette giggled. She twirled around playfully, showing him a full view of her outfit. "It's my favorite outfit! I wear it whenever I do stuff that I can't do with Hayner and Pence. It really isn't the type of the thing that you would run around town in with a couple of boys. I don't think those two have even seen it!"

"Ha, Ha…" Stranger laughed. He crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. "But what are you doing here?"

"Huh?" She huffed angrily. "Don't tell me you forgot!"

"Forgot?"

"We were supposed to go shopping to get some clothes!"

"Oh yeah!" He said, remembering what she said from the day before. "But what's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" He was wearing a t-shirt that was covered in paint, oil, and grease stains, a pair of jeans that were like wise covered in stains, and a pair of truly ragged sneakers. Anybody who saw them would have said that the laces were on the verge of deterioration.

"I'll give you three." She said holding up three fingers. She brought up a finger on her adjacent hand and pushed the each of the three down as she counted off. "One, they are Hayner's work clothes. He's gonna want them back. Two, they are filthy and covered in stains. Three, they're Hayner's. Anybody who knew him wouldn't want to wear them anyways."

"Okay, okay, you win!" He threw up his arms in defeat.

"Good!" She said with a big grin. "Let's head out now!

She immediately turned around and sped out of the usual spot, the stranger coming up running behind. As she exited, she turned left around the corner. As the stranger ran out behind her he stopped in the clearing, looking up to the signs in the corner of the street.

_Wait a minute, if the market place is that way, why is __Olette__ heading toward the station?_ And with that, he ran after Olette.

He arrived at a large paved terrace, where he saw Olette, standing in the middle with her hands on her hand, getting impatient. "What's taking you so long?" She asked rather impatient.

"Don't take that tone with me!" He barked. "The sign said the Market was in the other direction!"

"Market?" Olette repeated, rather puzzled. "Who said anything about going to Tram Cannon?"

"Well, you said we were going shopping."

"Oh!" Olette gasped. "Ah ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"What, I make a funny?" It was the stranger's turn to be puzzled.

"I'm sorry; I guess I'm not specific enough." Olette said, wiping a tear from her eye after laughing so hard. "We're going to Mall Street. We have to get there by train."

"Well, don't I look like an ass?" the Stranger muttered as he scratched his head, rather embarrassed. Trying to compose from the spectacle he made of himself he turned his head and as he surveyed his surroundings, something caught his eye. "Oh cool!" He ran towards the railing that overlooked nearly the entire city. He laughed as he took in the spectacular view, the city expanding up to the sea. Excited, he cupped his hands around his mouth and took a deep breath.

"GOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOORNIIIIIIIIINGGGGG-"He stopped suddenly; he looked as if he had something on his mind all of a sudden. He then turned towards Olette.

"Hey, what's this placed called again?

"WHAT?!?" Olette asked angrily in a huff, arms thrust down, hands clenched up and to opposite ends. She then twisted her waist around and folded her arms in an angry pout. "Don't tell me you've forgotten the name of this town already!"

The Stranger, once again slightly embarrassed, approached Olette with a grin on his face. "Of course not! It's, uh, Dawn City, right?"

"Jeez…" Olette sighed. "It's called Twilight Town! Honestly, you're so forgetful!"

"HA, HA!" He said sarcastically. "Very funny, making fun of the amnesiac!"

And with that, bells began to ring. The duo looked up at the clock to see the bells adorned in front of the rocking back in forth as the face of the clock read 10:00 AM.

"Oh no, we're late! The stores are opening!" Olette gasped. "Come on Stranger, we have to hurry!" She starts running off into the train station, the Stranger following close behind. Olette quickly paid for the train tickets and the two entered the last train on the platform. With a sigh of relief, Olette took a seat on the train.

"Gee, you sure are in a hurry!" The Stranger said, taking his own seat. "Is it really that important that we get there so early?"

Olette smiled and looked at him. "Ha, ha, I guess not. But I usually like to get there early. There's just so much to do there!"

"I see." The Stranger sighed. "So, where are Pence and Hayner?"

"Pence is helping his father with a project, and Hayner is being punished for skipping out on his punishment."

"Why is he being punished in the first place?"

"A couple days ago, he was sent out into the forest by his mother to gather firewood. Instead, he came back with a naked boy!"

"Well, I guess I shouldn't complain. After all, if he didn't come by, I might still be stuck in that forest, naked as a jaybird!"

Olette giggled slightly, holding her hand up to her mouth. After she finished, she fell silently, thinking slightly about something.

"Hey there's something I want to talk to you about." She stated matter of factly.

"Huh? What about?"

"Well, have you been able to remember anything?"

"Whoa, what brought this on all of the sudden?" He said, taken aback.

"Well, just curious…" She said over casually, crossing her legs daintily, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, really?" asked the Stranger, leaning forward with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I actually was wondering about your name." Olette said coming clean.

"My name?" he asked, rather confused.

"Uh huh. I'm not really comfortable calling 'stranger' all the time." She muttered nervously.

"You really haven't called me 'stranger' at all, really. But tell you what, why don't you call my 'Buddy' for right no instead?"

"Okay!!" She chirped, her nervousness melting away.

"And as for my memories, I do remember something."

"Oh, Really!" She started listening intently. "What do you remember?"

"Not much actually, just something about a silver haired boy, a brown haired girl, a dog thing, and a… goose?"

"A goose?" Olette repeated. "Either you've had a very weird life Buddy, or you're memory is spottier than we thought!"

Suddenly, a voice came over the loud speaker. "We are now arriving at Mall Street. Those who are now arriving at their final destination, please check your surroundings for any belongings. Have a nice day!"

"Oh, this is our stop! Let's go!" Olette said, and with that, the two left the train and entered Mall Street.

Chapter four: Good Morning Twilight Town. End.


	8. Chapter 5

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Where are we going and why are we being followed?

There's a saying that the citizens of Twilight Town have about Mall Street. 'You can't find everything on Mall Street, but you can find damn near it!' True to the phrase, Mall Street is a section of town totally dedicated to shopping. While it is called Mall Street, it is more of a collection of streets, filled with almost every store imaginable. Clothes, music, books, furniture, electronics, food, almost anything can be found. It been said that it's collection of shops surpasses even that of Sunrise City's, which was believed to be a shopper's dream. That may very well be true for one of a duo standing right outside the train station, sighing with content. Olette, resting her cheek on the back of one of her interlaced hands, looks at the Streets that were packed with early bird shoppers who believed that they could have beaten the crowd to the best deals of the weekend.

"Ah, Mall Street, how I love thee!" Olette said with a slight sigh, a big broad smile plastered to her face.

"Me too!" Buddy chirped in a high pitched mock tone, mimicking Olette's pose. "Jeez Olette, you sound like a schoolgirl in love!" He said, now with a hand on his hip. Olette, now brought down from her elation, gave Buddy a sharp jab with her elbow. [B "OOF!" [/B

"I am a schoolgirl silly! And you really shouldn't make fun of a lady!" She scolded.

"Ha, sorry." He said, rubbing the spot where Olette nailed him. _Man, she is deceptively strong!_ He thought to himself.

"Well, now that we've got that taken care of, let's go shopping!" She hollered while thrusting a fist into the air and another on her hip, unable to contain her excitement.

"B-But wait a sec!" Buddy stuttered, stopping Olette before she went off running.

"What **now**" She drawled, losing her patience. She looked over at his direction, still standing in the same pose from a moment before.

"Well, it's just that I don't have any cash. How am I supposed to buy new clothes?"

"Don't worry about that Bud! I've been saving up for months from my allowance and part time job for one big shopping trip!" She reached into her hand bag and brought out her homemade munny pouch, filled to the bursting limit! She cradled the bag in her hands, getting giddier by the second.

"HUH?" Buddy gasped. "I could never ask-"

"Oh hush up!" Olette interrupted. She grabbed buddy by his arm after returning her munny pouch to her bag. "You'd be doing me a favor by getting out of those god awful rags! Now stop wasting time and come on!"

"Wha-Wait!" But this time Olette ignored his pleas and pulled him into the crowd with a fit of giggles. As they proceeded down the steps, another figure stepped out of the station and watched Buddy get pulled along. He was wearing a black t-shirt that had the words 'Trial by Fire' emblazed in fire orange and red colors on the front. His pants were all black jeans with fire patches embroidered around the sleeves of each leg that reach up to his knees. His black jean jacket, witch was also likewise patched with flames around the sleeves and waist, was slung over his shoulder, hanging by the hood on his finger. His hair was fire red and was messy and wild like dancing flames, a triangle tattoo adorned under each eye. He chomped on a store bought sandwich, partially unwrapped, as he watched the two disappear into the crowd. After a few moments, he started to laugh. He tried to contain it, snorting a couple of times, but to no avail, as he blurted out in laughter, bread crumbs cascading out of his mouth.

"That poor newbie!" He hollered as he laughed on. "Getting pulled around by a little firecracker like that!" As he settled down, he descended the stairs, depositing what was left of the sandwich in a trash can located at the base. He then followed Olette and Buddy into the crowd, never losing sight of the two.

Chapter 5: Where are we going and why are we being followed: End.


	9. Chapter 6

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: I wasn't looking! I swear!

It's been an hour since Buddy and Olette arrived at Mall Street, and already they have been to seven different shops, all dedicated to finding Buddy a new set of clothes. Since exiting from the train, his appearance has changed dramatically. The stained t-shirt and jeans he wore not even an hour before had been stuffed into a plastic sack, which they then deposited into a locker. He now wore a pair of loose fitting slacks that were black around the lower waist and thighs and white above the knees down. In place of the shirt, he now wore a gray t-shirt and a black sleeveless vest with a collar reaching up midway up his neck. The Vest's zipper had a four pointed star pendant attached to it, dangling from the top of the collar. On his left arm he wore a black and white checkered wrist band and black ring on his index finger and a white ring on his middle finger. As the exited out of their latest venue, a shoe store specializing in the latest footwear fashions at affordable prices, the ragged tennis shoes he wore were held under his arms and in their place was a pair of black shoes with gray soles and red straps running across the top. A grand improvement over what he was wearing before.

After leaving the store, the two walked back to the locker to deposit the tattered footwear into the locker. Buddy thought it was unusual walking together as they were, since he was being pulled by his arm from store to store for the majority of the time by a very excitable Olette, expertly dodging the thoroughfare of the crowded street. Once the shoes were locked into away, Olette turned towards Buddy and looked him up and down, analyzing his attire, her left hand cupping her right elbow as she pressed her index finger softly against her lips in deep thought.

"Hmmmm…" she hummed softly, still looking at Roxas with deep intent in her eyes. Uncomfortable with her stares, Buddy got really nervous.

"Wha-what is it?" he asked as he surveyed his person. "Is there something on my face? Is my barn door open?"

"No, No…" Olette said as she shook her head. "It just feels like that there is something missing from the outfit. That there's something wrong."

"WRONG?!?" Buddy repeated in a loud, exasperated tone, upset that he might go another round of being Olette's personal dress-up doll. "HOW CAN IT BE WRONG? YOU HAND PICKED EVERYTHING!!"

"Settle down! I just merely meant that there's something missing! That's all!"

"Oh, well, okay then." He sighed, the panic subsiding. He really didn't want to go through the last hour again, shifting through mountains of clothes before they found the piece that the little miss fashion guru would think was just right. "So what now?"

"Well, how about we do some window shopping?" Olette suggested with a wink, twirling her hair slightly.

"Fine by me, but why do you need new windows?"

"No, window shopping means… Oh, never mind!" She said with a sigh. And with that, she walked off, Buddy trotting close behind.

A half an hour later, they are outside one of Twilight Towns best video game stores, flipping through the used video game bin. Buddy excitedly flips through the CD cases. He pulls one out in a black plastic case.

"How about this one?" he inquired, holding up the case.

"Is that Empire Souls 2?" Olette asked as she grabbed the case and moved it into her view. "That's a good one! It's all about a kid from the country side traveling from planet to planet looking for his brother and girlfriend while traveling with a wolf warrior and a chicken mage!"

"Wow, I kind of want to play it." He said with wonderment as he returned the case to where he found it. "It's a shame that I don't have a Fun station 2."

"Or a TV, or electricity, or a house…." Olette counted off.

"All right, all right…" He dismissed. As the pair were about to walk away, someone from behind approached them and spoke, catching their attention.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite student! How are you Olette?" A woman's voice asked.

"Huh, is that…" Olette and buddy quickly turned around to see who it was that called out. "IT IS!! IT'S MS. HEARTILY!!"

What Buddy saw was a woman roughly 24 years old, with black hair that was to just below her shoulders. Her brown highlighted bangs complemented her brown eyes, which were framed by brown rimmed glasses. She was roughly five feet, eleven inches tall, with long, slender legs, slender arms, and the perfect hourglass figure. She wore a semi-loose fitting long sleeved light blue silk shirt and a blue jean vest that was partially zipped up to just below her breast, accentuating her bust. Her shirt was tucked into a pair of form fitting jeans, the legs of which were tucked into brown boots with three inch heels, bringing her over all height to six feet, one inch tall.

"It's been so long!" Olette squealed with glee. She jumped up and throws around the woman, standing on her toes, one leg raised.

"Whoa there!" the woman said with a giggle, returning the hug. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but isn't it a bit much! I mean, we only saw each other a couple weeks ago!"

"I can't help myself. You're my favorite teacher Ms. Heartily!" She chirped with a giggle.

"Hey! I thought I told you that Ms. Heartily only exists in the classroom! It's Rinoa." She said in a mock scold, tapping Olette on the nose playfully. She then looked past her, at Buddy. "So who's your friend?"

"Oh! I completely forgot!" She quickly turned around

"Hey, Buddy! This is—"Olette paused mid sentence, shocked at the sight at Buddy. His face had turned beet red, mouth hanging open and he was staring blatantly at Rinoa, blood running down from his nose! Olette, once again brought down from her elation by Buddy's actions, once again jabs him, even harder, than before. "BUDDY!"

"Ow! What'd I do?" Buddy asked, rubbing the spot where she struck.

"Oh please! Like you could_ be_ any more obvious?" She pulled a clean tissue out of her bag and slams it against Buddy's chest. "Here, wipe your nose with this." Hesitantly, Buddy wiped the blood away from his nose.

Rinoa giggled, covering her mouth as she laughed. "So your name is Buddy. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Rinoa Heartily." She presents her hand in a greeting with a class of elegance Buddy is unaccustomed to. "And don't worry. I often have that affect on most of my male students the first time they meet me."

He grabs her hand with both of his and starts bowing, quick and rapidly. "T-tit's good to meet you!" He stuttered nervously. As he finished his greeting, Olette slammed her elbow into Buddy's side even harder than before. _Gah__! Right in the same spot!_

"**TITS?**" Olette repeated harshly, clearly angry with Buddy's slip of tongue.

"I, I--" Buddy stuttered in a panic. Realizing that she would need to intervene before things get out of hand, Rinoa stood between the raging Olette and the scared Buddy.

"Now, now Olette, I'm sure it was honest mistake. No need to be angry. So anyway, what brings you down to Mall Street?" Rinoa asked, changing the subject before Olette decided to skin her not so old friend. "Are you here to pick up an autographed copy of the new Dawn to Dusk CD?"

"Huh? But aren't they being released next weekend?" Olette asked a blank look on her face, her anger instantly dispelled at the mentioning of her favorite band.

"No, No. It this weekend. I was just on my way to Centennial Discs to pick up a copy. You wanna come?" Rinoa chirped.

Oh, would you mind? Since you know the store clerk, I can be sure to get a copy!"

"Sure!" Rinoa said with a smile.

"Okay, wait a sec." Olette said. She then grabs Buddy and shoves him down onto a nearby bench. "Wait here, I'll be back in five minutes. This is your punishment for acting like an ass in front of my teacher."

"What? Breaking in my ribs wasn't enough?" He inquired.

"Just wait here. I'll be back before you know it." Olette replied. But before any objection could be raised, she grabbed Rinoa by the arm and pulled her around the corner. Defeated, Buddy sat with his head hung low. A blue haired girl with bangs over one eye and was wearing a blue tank top with vertical stripes and a pair of tan shorts who had been watching this unfold walked up to buddy and stared at him for a minute. Buddy, looking up, finally noticed the girl, starring back at her. Moments passed and the girl then thrust a finger into Buddy's face.

"WHIPPED." She said in a cold, matter of fact sort of way. And before he could reply, the girl was off and around the corner.

"Man, girls are mean!" He told himself. He then leaned back and waited for Olette to return. Thirty minutes passed and still Olette has yet to return. "Jeez, what could be taking her?" He asked rubbing his neck. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was taking this long just to spite me. The tits thing was a mistake!"

He looked over his shoulder and saw an antiques shop that he hadn't noticed before. "Collectable Curiosities, huh…" He said, reading the sign above the door. _Well, since I've got time to kill…_

He removed himself from his seat and went into the store, not caring what the repercussions might be.

Chapter 6: I wasn't looking!! I swear: End


	10. Chapter 7

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Unlocking the Key to Destiny.

The bell placed on the front door of Collectable Curiosities rung as Buddy entered. What he saw when he entered the dimly lit area was wall to wall antiquities, quietly colleting dust. Objects of all sorts adorned the walls and shelves of the shop, nearly all of them in poor condition and disrepair. Some of them looked on the verge of disintegrating. There were Clocks with cracked faces running on the wrong time or not running at all, Statuettes that had so many cracks, it looked as if a mere breeze would turn them to dust. There antique glasses with chunks of the glass missing from the rim, and the various cutting tools, swords and knives, littered the store counters unsheathed that would be better suited as blunt objects, their blades dull and worn from lack of care. It was hardly what he expected.

"Collectable Curiosities?" he asked himself as he looked at the large suit of armor positioned by the door. Nearly every piece of the armor was either fractured or rusted, from its gold and red chest plates, to it armored gauntlets, to its Metal plated boots. From its rusted shoulder plates sprouted a tattered, moth eaten cape that extended down most of its form. It would have been quite the spectacular piece of art in its top condition, but Buddy wasn't thinking of this as he mocked it, sticking his fists on the side of his head, index fingers extended, mimicking the bat ear extensions that adorned the sides of the helmet. "More like Curious Crap! Honestly, who buys this stuff?"

Deciding that he still had time to kill before Olette's return, he decided to look around the store a little more. He discovered that not all of the artifacts in the shop were broken, just odd. Some of the clocks didn't have numbers, but bizarre pictures. Many of the shelves were packed with curious little trinkets that seemed to have no particular use at all. When one caught Buddy's attention, he turned towards the counter to ask a question, only to find that the counter, along with the rest of the store, was vacant. No attendant presided at the shop at all.

"Ah, that figures. The people running this place figured nobody in their right minds would buy anything from a dump like this." He said to himself. As he was about to leave the shop, he noticed that the back right hand corner of the shop was completely bare. Nothing was there except for a small table and a box, about a foot and a half long and eight inches tall.

_Why didn't I notice that before_ He thought. As he approached the box, it turned out to be far more intricate than he originally had believed. It was of simple cedar, but it was carved with an etching of what appeared to be an ancient version of Twilight Town with unfathomable complexity. The top had been cut out, and a pane of glass that been inserted. The box itself looked as if it were ancient, as the hinges and the lock cap on it were brown with rust. It was absolutely covered with dust, the layers so thick; it looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in centuries, keeping Buddy from seeing the contents within.

Curious as to why the box was isolated from the rest of the store, he searched for something to clean the glass with. Remembering the tissue that Olette gave him, he removed it from his pocket and scrunched it up in a manner where the part stained with his blood was out of the way and the majority of it was facing the mysterious container. He quickly cleaned the glass by dragging the tissue in vertical swipes against the glass. Once he was done, he discarded the tissue and gave the box his full attention. What he saw was a strange metal rod, possibly a club of some sort. He couldn't be to sure, since the end seemed to have been broken off, as if it shattered.

Buddy had discerned that it was once a weapon of sorts, since it had the hilt of a sword. It was a most peculiar hilt, since it had two tassels, instead of the usual one that would be expected on some swords, on adjacent sides of each other coming out from the guard, down about five inches while four inches apart from the grip, and finally coming back into the base of the hilt. From its base was a 4 inch chain attached to it, the last link of it was fractured broken, as if some extreme force had cut it or snapped it. Buddy theorized that the chain was once part of some adornment, guessing that the missing part of the chain was connected to a pendent.

_This is it? It's just a hunk of metal!_ He stared at the broken weapon, very disappointed in his discovery. "SCREW THIS! I'm going back to the bench!" He turned on his heel towards the door,

Ba-bump!

A twinge a pain washed over his entire body. He clutched his chest as he broke out in a cold sweat. He turns around hastily and looks back at the box, with wide, glazed eyes.

Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump!

His heart pounds as he slowly re approached the box. His fingers caress the latch as he stares at the hunk of metal inside the wooden container.

BA-BUMP! BA-BUMP! BA-BUMP!

He undoes the latch, slowly lifting the cover, revealing that the strange box was actually laced with a fine blue lace lining. The hinges creaked, clarifying that the box hadn't been moved in ages. Under the artifact, a golden plaque covered with dust, rested there, as if to announce to the world the name of the item. The entranced buddy took his thumb and wiped the dust of the plaque, revealing its single engraved word

_"Keeeey…….blaaaaade…."_ Buddy whispered in a hushed drawl.

BA-BUMP! BA-BUMP!

He reached out his hand for the ancient item. His fingers caressed the black steel of the tassel and guard.

**BA-BUMP!**

Suddenly, he started sinking fast, as if the ground had turned into water. He descended head first as he sank into an endless void. He couldn't move. It felt like there was a weight pressing against his entire being. He couldn't breath. His lungs felt like they were being squeezed by a steel strong grip, keeping him from taking a breath. He couldn't see. His eyelids felt like they were tied to lead weights. He felt as if he would sink forever in this lifeless void. He sank, sank, sank….

**FWUMP!**

"Oooow…." He landed hard on his front side. He crawled up to feet and rubbed his bruised cheek. He sighed as he opened his eyes. "This isn't the shop…" he said with a tone of and slight fear. He looked around and noticed that he was standing on a large stained glass platform, the glass as white as snow, with no intricate designs what so ever. The floor seemed to emanate a low light.

"Is it night time?" He asked himself as he looked up into the black void. He tried to see if there were stars or some type of moon, but he saw nothing. He noticed that the floor was actually a platform of sorts when he saw the edge. He ran to it, thinking he could get an idea of where he was. When he got to it, he had expected to see landscapes and cities, but instead he saw the same pitch blackness that went on forever. Try a he might he couldn't see anything, not even the base to this mysterious tower.

"Okay, so no falling off…" Buddy said nervously with a chuckle, his voice cracked slightly as he got back up onto his knees. "Where am I?" He asked himself, truly worried about his predicament. "The last thing I remember, I was gonna go back to the bench when there was this sharp pain in my chest. What is this place?"

_"This is the Station of Serenity_." A voice called out, answering his query. The voice seemed to come from everywhere, even from within him, reverberating within Buddy's chest.

"WH-who are you?" Buddy stuttered, surprised by the disembodied voice. But the voice ignored him, or perhaps, never truly heard him at all, as it continued to speak.

_"Once, this tower was engraved with your precious memories. But now, your memories have been taken from you, leaving this tower__ in the state it is now__ as it is now_."

"Wait, my memories?!" An astonished buddy repeated. He had become alert and paid attention with intent at the thought of being able to learn something about his past. "Do you know about me? Do you know who I am?"

_"You are of the non existent ones. Those who lost one of the three precious treasures that make up life, and have forfeited their right to exist."_

"One of the non existent ones…." Buddy repeated quietly. He looked at his hands, as if they held the answers to all of his questions. **"But how can that be? I'm right here!! I exist!!"**

_"You are different, in that you still have a foot hold in existence. You don't exist, and yet at the same time, you do. __A non existent one with a fractured heart."_

"A fractured…" Buddy clenched his chest, remembering the sharp pain he had there earlier. "Heart?"

_It is because of this, that you are able to wield a power, a weapon that no non existent one coul__d ever be__ able to touch."_

And with that, Buddy's body began to emit a soft light. Startled, he surveyed his person, checking if any changes had occurred. He sighed with relief, realizing that all that had happened was light emanation. Suddenly, the over all area of Buddy's body that was lit up was shrinking, while it got brighter as it shrank. It started at his fingers and toes, and then went in from there. Eventually, it concentrated over his left bicep, as bright as a star.

"Wh-what's going on?" Buddy asked, scared witless. Then two sparks of light, one black and one white, emerged from his chest, returning him to normal. The two sparks flew around the platform, dancing as they traveled from one end to another. They then came to a stop in the center of the platform, the white on the left, the black on the right. Buddy slowly and cautiously approached the two floating lights.

_"These were__ created from the memories that were engraved into your fractured heart."_

The black spark flashed and solidified into a small, four pronged crown, still glowing softly. A little spark emerged from the bottom, and it solidified into a chain link. Likewise, every spark after that also solidified into a chain links until a bigger spark flashed and separated into two, shooting in opposite directions, and then come up and around towards each other, the streaks left behind forming a tassel in the shape of devils wings. A strand of light appeared between the top and bottom of the tassel, solidifying into a grip. From the side adjacent to the one connected to the chain and crown, another light shooting out in a straight line then coming back down into the tassel, forming to a blade like weapon. On one side, a small adornment formed, making the weapon look like a giant key.

_"This is the Keyblade __**Oblivion**__, born from a treasured friendship that has weathered the worst of tribulations."_

Likewise, the white spark flashed, solidifying into a make shift star shaped good luck charm. On one of the star points, a face and some brown hair were scribbled onto it. Like the crown, it too sparked; each spark creating a different part of the item, except this time, the tassel resembled an angel's wing.

_"This is the Keyblade __**Oathkeeper**__. It was born from a precious promise that must be kept. They are your power."_

"My…My power?" Buddy once again repeated the voices words, starting to sound like a broken record. He looked on as the two Keyblades floated in the air. Stunned, he barely heard the voice speak one more time.

_"Quickly, take up arms! The Darkness is coming for you."_

The two Keyblades disappeared in a flash, and in a flash, reappeared in Buddy's hands. As he looked at his two new weapons, he felt a pull in the back of his mind, sensing the approach of something with a malicious intent. He threw down his arms, Keyblades thrust in opposite directions, standing ready for battle.

Chapter 7: The Key to Destiny: End


	11. Chapter 8

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter8: Darkside Descends.

Standing ready, Buddy looked around the glass pillar, ready for what ever this mysterious enemy might be. Suddenly, the entire pillar began to shake.

"What is this?!? Is this an earthquake?!?" He asked as he tried to keep his balance. He looked down and saw darkness wisps spreading around his feet, growing larger by the second. Before he could evade, a large black hand, roughly the size of Buddy's waist, thrust out of the dark and grabbed Buddy around the waist, the grip as tight as any bond. The body belonging to that hand came forth from the dark, revealing a giant that was four times Buddy's size. It was all black with a muscular build, and its head had thick tendril like hair, which seemed to writhe around as if each strand had a life of its own. Its lower waist had a huge hole shaped like a heart. It gazed at buddy with piercing, glowing yellow eyes.

"WH-WHAT ARE YOU?!?" Buddy demanded in a panic. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would be fighting something like this monster. The beast brought Buddy close to his face still clutching him in his left hand, only about a few feet to be exact, and looked him in the eyes.

_"HEART…..LEEESSSSS….."_ The beast drawled in a loud whisper. Buddy could see the Beast form the words with its lips. Even its soft whisper reverberated into Buddy's entire being, its breath ruffling through his hair. Its breath hurt his nostrils, his eyes stung slightly. He closed his eyes to protect it from the foul wind. _Is this what Darkness smells like?_

The Monstrosity lifted Buddy into the air, and with all its might, threw him down towards the fluorescent ground, uncoiling its grip around him as he descended, and the monster pushed Buddy with its palm as he fell. With its added weight and thrust, the Beast slammed Buddy into the glass floor, inflicting far more damage to Buddy than if the beast just threw him down. The sheer force of the monster's palm thrust cracked the glass platform in a spider web like pattern in a circular area around Buddy.

**"KOFF! GAK!"** Buddy croaked. He coughed up a quick spray of blood, scoring the first strike for the beast. The monster lifted Buddy back up for another round. Buddy desperately tried to compose himself as blood streaked down his chin. The beast stared at Buddy, waiting for him to compose himself so he could feel the full brunt of the next attack. It was obvious that the monster intended to play with its victim. Buddy, after catching his breath and calming himself down, spoke in a soft, sarcastic tone. "Hey! tall, dark and handsome!" The giant, not really responding to Buddy's comment, but to the sound of his voice, gave more pause than it originally intended as it looked at him.

"You have to know, I'm not usually this close to someone on a first date." He said, still speaking softly. He had managed to free his right arm during the monster's attack and had somehow figured out how to dismiss his Keyblades, as his hand was vacant. A vertical explosion of light flashed in his hand, and as the light faded, revealing the Keyblade Oathkeeper. Buddy glared at the beast with a new found ferocity and a wide, tooth showing grin. He had the look of a wolf being backed into a corner, getting ready to rip through his opponent.

**"SO****BACK OFF!!"** He yelled as he plunged the Oathkeeper into the giant's wrist. The released his grip around Buddy as it howled in pain, allowing Buddy to climb up onto the goliath's wrist. Leaving Oathkeeper behind as he dashed up its arm, he summoned Oblivion, it appearing in the same light as Oathkeeper. He brought Oblivion around, and slammed it with all his might into the beast's head, the beast recoiling from the strike. He had managed to land three more strikes to monster's head before it managed to swat Buddy away with its other gargantuan hand. Buddy grunted as he was sent flying towards the edge of the platform. However, he managed to correct himself in mid air, stopping him from sailing. He landed on one knee and as he took a moment to wipe away the blood, the giant trotted towards him.

The monstrosity towered over Buddy and lifted its foot in a preparation for another attack. Buddy leapt forward, tucking his in legs and rolled away, dodging its stomp. He kept rolling, dodging repeated attacks. He rolled around until he got dizzy, stopping at the edge of the platform. The giant trotted over and brought its foot back up, getting ready for another stomp. He backed up to the edge, and dodged the behemoth's stomp. He swung his Keyblade horizontally, slashing it into its ankle and setting it off balance. The beast frantically tried to regain its balance, not wanting to fall over.

"Down ya go!" Buddy chirped as he slammed Oblivion into the monster's heel, offsetting its delicate balance, sending it over the edge. He back steps to dodge any flailing limbs, watching as the giant toppled over the edge. "See ya later gruesome!" He remarked with a salute.

"Damn shame though. That Oathkeeper thing was pretty cool." He said with a sigh, resting his weapon on his shoulder. "Now, time to get out of here. You'd think there would be an invisible staircase or something..."

Suddenly he heard a loud humming coming form behind him. He returned to the edge and peered over just in time to see the feet of the beast disappear into a portal of darkness.

"Still want to fight eh? Okay then."

Buddy backs away from the ledge, about a quarter of the way in, and stands ready, watching the floor for any signs of attack. Sure enough, darkness appeared around his feet.

"THE SAME ATTACK WON'T WORK TWICE!" Buddy hollered as he jumped aside as the beast's right hand thrusts up from the floor. With an unexpected burst of power, Buddy brought around Oblivion in a horizontal swing and cut off the monsters hand and wrist! The giant leapt out of the dark portal in astonishment of its sudden injury and retreated to the opposite side of the platform. The dismembered appendage dissolved away, unnoticed by the two.

Buddy eyed the beast carefully as the beast returned Buddy's scrutinizing gaze. It lowered his remaining hand, still impaled with Oathkeeper, gently onto the glass floor. A dark portal then appeared around it, and smaller creatures started to crawl out.

"What, you can't beat me by yourself, so you have to bring in some of your friends?" He asked sarcastically, not really expecting an answer. He watched as black creatures, roughly about a foot in height, with big heads and pudgy bodies clawed their way out of the portal with stubby little claws. They all had bug like antenna, and beady yellow eyes that were like dots on their heads. _Crap! I'm not sure if I can take on the bitchy black giant and his little buddies at the same time. _

But instead of swarming Buddy, the creatures crawled their way up the giant's arm, across the shoulders, and up the other arm to where the missing hand once was. They piled on top of each other, clawing their way up one by one, each one clinging to their brethren once they found their proper place. Once the last of the creatures had taken their place, they merged into one big ball of Darkness, warping and twisting into a specific shape. When it started to resemble a hand without fingers, five strange appendages formed and grew out, four from the top, one from the side. The smaller creatures had assimilated themselves into the larger one, giving it a new hand to replace the one lost in Buddy's last attack.

"Well, I guess that's… _handy_." Buddy stuttered with a twitch in his eye. When he noticed that the beast had closed the dark portal, he made a de a mad dash toward it, reversing his grip on Oblivion. He jumped onto the goliath's hand just as it was about to lift its hand up, snatched up Oathkeeper, and dragged the two along the giants arm, leaving deep gashes as he ran. He arrived at the giant's head, and landed a succession of blows, at least three times as much as before, repeatedly swinging his Keyblades in all manner of directions. The giant brought its new hand around to smash him, but Buddy dodged by ducking behind the beast and falling down into the beasts heart shaped cavity in the lower torso. Once he had propped against the monsters inner right side, he plunges both Keyblades into the adjacent side.

"IT'S TIME FOR A SIDE SPITTER!" He barked. He started pulling his Keyblades in opposite directions with all his might. With a grunt, he managed to split the giant's side wide open! Immediately, Buddy jumped down to get out of the way of flailing arms. The giant's upper half, now only connected to his lower half by one of his sides, flail wildly as it tries to desperately regain its balance that was set off by the lost of once side.

"Only one shot at this…" Buddy murmured. He took aim with Oblivion, being careful to keep his line of sight on the monster's waist. He brings Oathkeeper back behind him, and chucks it forward, spinning it rapidly. Oathkeeper pierces the beasts remaining waist, severing it from the lower body and plunging and sending it into the void!

"Now that that is taken care of, it's time to find a way out of here. Maybe I should check for invisible stairs after all…"

Buddy looked over the platform for any indication of where an exit could possibly be, when he notices that he's casting a shadow onto the floor, even though the only light source was coming from the floor. He looks up to see the giant's upper body hovering high in the air, in its hands was a growing ball of dark energy. It was getting ready to destroy the entire tower along with him.

"Man, this pest is like a bad itch." Buddy told himself with a scowl, starting to get rather annoyed. "Always coming back in a place I just can't reach. Well, I guess the best way to take care of a pest is with a big ol' can of **STRIKE RAID!**" Buddy threw Oblivion this time, as hard as he could and with even greater spin than before, sending it sailing through the black abyss. It nailed the giant right through the head, dissipating the dark energy instantly. The beast went limp and dissolved away as it fell.

"Finally..." Buddy said with a sigh, relieved that he was finally done. He held his hands out and concentrated, summoning both of his Keyblades back. "I guess they really do belong to me."

_"Well done."_ The strange voice called out, praising Buddy for a fight well fought. _"__You have beaten the Darkness that has come for you. __Now, it is time for you to return."_

"WHAT?" Buddy yelled in astonishment. He dismissed his Keyblades, the mysterious objects fading into light. Buddy rushed to the center of the platform, searching for the source of the voice frantically. "BUT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?!? WHAT'S MY NAME?!?"

But his pleas were to no avail, as the voice continued its farewell.

_"You will have many battles ahead of you to claim what you seek. When you next return to the Station of Serenity, you will be close to claiming that which you have lost. Farewell."_

Once it had finished, a light enveloped Buddy, starting at his feet, and consumed his being. Things started to go white, and eventually, all he could see was a bright light. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his hand.

"YEOW!!" he yelped. He was shaking his hand in an effort to shake away the pain. He had returned to the shop at Mall Street, only with one difference. Standing next to him was a truly crotchety old man who wore a trench coat like one would wear a robe. He had a crooked nose with a bald head with gray hair on the side. He held a cane in his hand and shook it at Buddy.

"NO TOUCHING THE MERCHANDISE!" He yelled, spitting as he talked. "Honestly, kids today have no respect at all!"

"Jeez, Sorry…" Buddy yammered as he rubbed his hand. "Hey! Old man! When I left it was 11:30. Do you know how long I was gone?"

"Are you high boy? It's 11:31 right now! You were just standing there like an idiot when I came in! Now go! Shoo! Shoo!"

"Okay, Okay…" As Buddy headed towards the door, he stopped and looked at the suit of armor once more, looking up and down, and then over his shoulder at the broken Keyblade. _What was that? Was it a dream? It seemed far too real. And it seemed like it lasted for a half an hour at least. _

"Keyblade, huh…" He muttered as he stared at the palm of his hand, deep in thought.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT!" The angry old man screamed, shaking his cane wildly in the air.

"I heard you the first time old man! Don't slip a disk!" Buddy snarled. He opened the door, a ring of the bell signaling his departure.

Chapter 8: Darkside Decends: End.


	12. Chapter 9

Edit: This document has been severly edited from the earlier version. For those who have read the first, sorry about that.

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Side Stepped Side Story #I: R.O.A

It's been fifteen minutes since Olette and Rinoa left Buddy sitting on a bench, and ten minutes since the two purchased their Dawn to Dusk CD, bypassing the line of diehard fans thanks to Rinoa's connections. Ten minutes that where spent, at the insistence of Olette, with the elder of the two holding a cup of Moon munny coffee, and Olette herself, sipping on an Italian Soda while seated at a sofa so common to cafés and coffee shop. Olette was reclining in her seat while her teacher was starring at the girl with a bit of puzzled look in her eye.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to your friend?" Rinoa inquired inquisitively, intent on finding the source of Olette's peculiar behavior. "Isn't he waiting for you?"

"Ah, let him wait!" She scoffed after taking a sip of her drink. "It's his punishment for acting like an ass earlier!"

"Come on Olette, don't you think your being a little too hard on him?" Rinoa asked with a note of reason, uncommon for her age. It was one of her traits that made her so popular with the students and teachers alike at the school where she worked. She would often get forced into the role of intermediate when disputes broke out between her coworkers, her students, or between the faculty and the student body. "It's not the first time a teenager dropped the ball when they met me for the first time, and it probably won't be the last! It's no big deal."

**"Well it's a big deal to me!"** She said in a loud voice, eyes closed out of irritation, raising her plastic cup in preparation for another sip. **"He embarrassed me in the middle of one of the busiest places in Twilight Town!"**

Realizing that her current strategy isn't going to work, she abandons it and adopts a different tactic all together. She casually retrieves a pack of coffee cream that had been sitting on the table in front of them, opens it, and stirs it in to her coffee with a little plastic stir stick she had acquired when she picked up her order. She brings it close to her lips, smelling and savoring the aroma of Twilight Town's exclusive brew as she gently brushed away her hair that had fallen in front of her sight behind her ear. Before she takes a sip, cradling the cup with her hands, she asked Olette a rather innocent sounding question.

"So, if Buddy's your boyfriend, does this mean you're over that crush you had on Hayner?"

**"PFFFFFFFFT!!"**

Caught off guard with a mouth full of soda water, orange flavoring juice and whipped cream by her elder compatriot's question, spits it out in a fine spray out of the surprise and astonishment that the question had wrought. She struggled to catch her breath between coughs as she attempted to compose herself. The educator couldn't help but smile slightly with a glint of sneakiness in her eyes as she thought: _Bingo!_

**"RINOA! WHAT THE HELL WOULD GIVE YOU THAT IDEA!?!"** The exasperated Olette asked, wiping away the left over soda from her mouth with a handkerchief, her cheeks burning from embarrassment.

"Well its true, isn't it?" The elder inquired, setting the cup down onto the table. "Telling from your behavior around him, it would be obvious to anyone that you would be involved with him."

"No it's not true!" The younger said hastily, her face still red. "It's just that—"

"You got jealous when he looked at another woman." Rinoa interrupted.

"NO! It's just how I keep all of my boys in line." Olette replied nervously. "And I do **not** have a crush on Hayner!"

_Total BS._ Rinoa thought to herself with a sigh. _I can see that you're head over heels for him._

"So let me get this straight. You got angry with someone for looking at another woman who you are **not** involved with, saying that he is just, and I quote, one of '_your boys._' So tell me, how did he become one of '_your boys?_' And don't tell me that you guys just up and decided to add a fourth to your little trio!"

Feeling pressured from the interrogation Rinoa was putting her through, Olette tried to think up a way to appease her teacher in a way that wouldn't reveal that she had only met the boy a few days ago when Hayner found him naked in the forest, and that the boy has no recollection of his past.

"He's… a friend from Hayner's." Olette replied, trying to avoid eye contact. "He's from out of town."

"Right…" Rinoa hummed, eyeing the younger girl. She knew her pupil was hiding something from her. She decided to give Olette one more push before she would try to find her answer elsewhere. "So why would you be so strict with someone who is technically a friend _of_ friend, and that you don't have any direct relationship with what so ever?"

"Well…" Olette hummed. She placed her index fingers upside down under each eye, bobbed her head slightly, and gave her best good girl smile. "Me no know!"

And in one swift motion, Rinoa wrapped her arm around the Olette's neck, pulls her in close, and secured the young girl into a head lock and grinded her knuckle into Olette's scalp, ruffling the girl's hair.

"Don't be cute with me!" She said, a tad annoyed with the girl.

Olette gave a slight sad pout at the comment. _But I am cute!_ Once she was free from Rinoa's head lock, she pulled a brush out of her bag and started fixing her hair.

"So where do you think Marlene is?" Olette asked in an attempt to change the subject as she ran her brush through her hair. "It's the second Saturday of the month. She always goes to Mall Street on the second Saturday of the month. And with the new Dawn to Dusk CD out, I half expected to find her fighting her way tooth and claw through that line!"

"What?" Rinoa asked, surprised that Olette would ask such a question. "You mean you don't know?"

"Huh?" Olette replied, looking rather puzzled. "I don't know what?"

"Oh my god…" Rinoa whispered. She crawled over closer to Olette and looked her in the eyes.

"Olette, about Marlene, she's…"

"What about her?" Olette muttered with worry for her friend in her voice.

"Marlene is in the hospital." Rinoa said softly. "She has been for the past two weeks."

"What?" A stunned Olette said softly. It wasn't uncommon to lose touch with school friends over the summer, but to not hear about this for so long was too much. "HOW? WHY?"

"Calm down, she's okay." Rinoa hugged Olette and gently stroked her hair, trying to calm the panicking teen. "When her father noticed that she was late coming home, he went out to look for her. He found her in a really bad shape near the upside of town. He managed to get her to the hospital in time, but when I checked a few days ago, she was still in a coma."

"Poor Mr. Barrett" Olette muttered sadly. Marlene's father, Barrett, was the gym coach at her school. He was supremely protective of his daughter, and would snarl at anybody who would even look at her at the wrong way. He was big, gruff, and surly, but he had a kind heart, and would crawl from the depths of hell to the tops of the heavens to protect the people he cares for. He was one of the strongest guys in all of Twilight Town, and many would say that he would be able to take down the entire wrestling league with one hand, which coincidentally, was all he had. "He must be sick with worry."

"Poor Barrett?" Rinoa asked with a slight smile. "Don't you mean poor hospital staff? He hasn't left the hospital since Marlene had been checked in. Have you ever tried to get a guy the size of a tank to move when he doesn't want to? Let me tell ya, even if they had a fork lift, it's not happening."

Olette giggled with a smile at the thought of the entire staff trying to push Barrett out the door at the end of visiting hours. But that smile faded soon after as she thought about the unfortunate news. "Who would do such a thing?" she asked. Rinoa looked into Olette's sad eyes, throwing around a thought.

"I honestly don't know." The teacher lied, not wanting to burden the emotional brunet any further. Truth is, she had a suspicion. In the past year or so, there have been a bunch of gangs cropping out of the woodwork, claiming a certain section of Twilight Town as their territory, with each gang said to have strange abilities. The Council of Masters, the group of individuals that acted as the government for Twilight Town, had been pressuring the media to keep their existence silent in fear of it tarnishing Twilight Town's reputation, leaving only gossip spoken at remedial conversation. She didn't even know of their existence until a student of hers broke down and told her everything from his involvement in one of these gangs to the gang's customs, rules, and their traditions. Out of concern of her students, she started asking students from different areas that she had noticed were experiencing similar stress to the first. She had found out that the gangs that had sprung up were seemingly unrelated. The only connection

they had was that all the groups had names with the initials of D.o.T. Marlene had been the latest that had come to her before the summer break, concerned about the boy she had been seeing had been running around with these gangs, making them the most likely suspects. She had tried to talk to the authorities, but to no avail. She decided that if they won't do anything, she'll do all that she is could to protect her students.

"Maybe I was too harsh with him." Olette said, interrupting Rinoa's train of thought. Rinoa looked at her with a blank stare.

"Before summer vacation started, Marlene and I kind of had a fight." Olette said frankly. Rinoa still just stared at the young girl. "It wasn't anything all that bad, but it isn't something that I want to end a friendship on. It's probably even worse to start one with a fight."

"And I guess I shouldn't blame him for losing it in front of Twilight Town's most _popular_ bachelorette." Olette said with envy as she eyed her teacher's physique. Rinoa couldn't help but chuckle nervously. Olette returned her brush to her bag and deposited the plastic cup she was drinking out of into the trash. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she stood up.

"We should be getting back." Olette said plainly, and with that, she walked out the door.

"Hold on Olette!" Rinoa pleaded as the girl rushed out. She collected her purse and quickly followed her student. When she exited, she looked to the left to see Olette standing in front of an alley.

"Let's cut through here! It'll be faster than going around. Come on!"

"Olette, I really don't think--"the educator tried to say in an effort to stop the teen, but she dashed down the alley before raven haired woman could finish. With a sigh, she rushed to follow the teen into the alley, and straight into a brick wall, stopping them from proceeding.

"Why is this here?" Olette asked, rather perplexed. She was quickly joined by an angry Rinoa.

"OLETTE! YOU SHOULDN'T RUN OFF LIKE THAT WHEN YOU'RE WITH SOMEONE!" Rinoa said sharply as she scolded. "And you shouldn't go through alleys anyway. It's really dangerous!"

"It's dangerous around noon time?" Olette replied, seeing flawed logic in Rinoa's argument.

"Hey, anything can happen."

"Well, well, well! Look what we have here!" An irritatingly scratchy voice rang out into the alley.

"A couple of butterflies have fluttered their way into the Spider's web!"

"See, this here is case in point." Rinoa said with a sigh. Moments later, a group of five men, all wearing black leather jackets, black t-shirts that were numbered one through five, black jeans, and headbands with blue snowflakes patched on them quickly descended down from the fire escapes of the buildings on either side of the alley and quickly stood between the girls and their exit. The last one to descend had a scrunched face, a protruding nose, beady eyes, and hair that stood straight up like tall grass. He seemed to be the leader of the group, as he took a stance in the center of the of his compatriots, along with the fact that his shirt was labeled "1". Rinoa instinctively placed herself between the gang and her pupil.

"Unclench sweetheart." The small guy said in the same scratchy voice from earlier. He had a crooked smile plastered onto his face. "We're not interested with the kid. Why don't ya ditch her and come have fun with us?"

Rinoa kept silent. The group started to creep forward.

"T-teacher…" A scared Olette stuttered. Rinoa gave her a quick glance to signify that things would be okay.

"Come on." One continued. "If you promise to behave yourself, we'll promise to try and not be too rough." He reached out to grab her wrist.

**OLETTE! STAY BACK!"** Rinoa yelled in a commanding voice. She grabbed one's wrist and pushed it aside, and in an instant, she thrust her other hand and slammed the bottom of her palm into one's large nose, breaking it instantly and sending him falling to his knees, screaming in pain. The other four rushed her almost instantly, but Rinoa took them all down in an unexpected barrage fists and kicks, sending the whole lot of them to the floor quickly and easily. When she was done, they were all groaning on the ground as she stood in a martial arts stance, one leg lifted off the ground like a crane. Her left hand was held high in the air while her right was held low with poise and grace.

"Honestly, did you think it would be that easy? Looking the way I do, I would be an idiot not to prepare for such an occasion."

"DON'T GET COCKY SWEETCHEEKS!" another voice called out. Rinoa turned looked around to the far wall to see another gang member with a t-shirt labeled six had captured Olette and covered her mouth with one hand, held a knife only a couple inches from her neck with the other. His compatriots crawled to their feet as Olette struggled against her captor.

"Good work six!" One said when he was back on his feet. He glared at Rinoa coldly as he

squeezed his nose to stop the bleeding.

"Now, let's try this again. You do as you're told, or else six gets to have his way with your little friend over there, got it?"

Panicking, Rinoa quickly looked from one, to the captured Olette, and back to one. Her eyes were wide from terror of what could happen to her student. Defeated, she nods her heads with closed eyes as she tried to hold back tears.

"Excellent." One hissed as he snickered. "And you can forget about getting off easy. Oh no, you're gonna have it nice and rough. It's what you get for messing with the _Disciples of Twilight, subgroup B!_"

All of the sudden, Rinoa's eyes went wide. She replayed one's words through her head. _**Disciples of Twilight?**____**Subgroup B?**__ Does this mean…_

"Enough! Let's get started!" One barked. The five started chuckling, while the sixth that stood by looked on.

"It's too bad." Six whispered in the panicked teen's ear. "I kind of have a thing for younger girls."

This sent Olette into a frenzy, desperately trying to escape. Six took a deep breath, sniffing Olette's hair, evil thoughts running through his mind when suddenly…**CLANG!**

The sudden sound of metal caught the attention of the others and they looked for the source. Six had been nailed across the face with a trash can lid thrown like a Frisbee. Dazed, he released his grip on Olette. Rinoa took the chance and dashed over, grabbing the girl and holding her close. While Olette cried, Rinoa joined her gaze with the gazes of others toward the entrance of the alley to see who their savior could be.

They saw a man, roughly Rinoa's age, wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt with the words 'Trial by Fire' emblazed across the front. They couldn't see his face because he his nose, mouth and chin were hidden by a scarf wrapped around his head, revealing only eyes with a triangle tattoo under each one. He hid his hair with a ski cap.

**"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!"** One demanded angrily.

"Just being a good citizen, going around and picking up crap off the streets." The mysterious figure said matter of factly. He looked over at the direction of the girls. "Hey! Are you just going to stand there? Move! Find a cop or something and tell them that there will be six goons gift wrapped for them."

"Alright…" Rinoa said solemnly as she recovered from the daze of the stranger's unexpected arrival. She momentarily pushes Olette aside and glared with untold anger towards six, already on his feet. "But first…"

She swung her foot as hard as she could between six's legs, landing a crippling blow to his sensitive parts, knock the air out of his lungs. He fell to his knees as he cupped his throbbing appendage, gasping for air.

"That's for calling me 'sweet cheeks!'" She said sharply. She lifted her leg up and brought it behind her. "And this…"

**"THIS IS FOR THREATENING MY STUDENT!"** Rinoa roared with ferocity she had never felt before as she swung her leg around, slamming her heel into the side of six's head as hard as she could, pushing it until she slammed it once more into the brick wall. Six slumped down as blood trickled down his skull, fainting from the teacher's ferocious attack. Not giving a seconds pause, she grabbed Olette and ran out the alley, not stopping until she found the closest security station.

---------

"DAMN!" An astonished Axel gasped as he looked at the fallen number six, his look of surprise hidden by his disguise. "That lady can FIGHT!"

Axel, in awe of the fighting prowess and savageness of the black haired girl's attack, noticed that suddenly his left hand felt really cold. He looked down to see that it was covered with ice.

"And I was having such a good day too." One said coldly, his right palm open and facing Axel. The snowflake on his headband glowed light blue as his hands were surrounded by a blue aura.

"Oh, really? I didn't notice." Axel remarked, taking note of the headband. He flared up the temperature in his left hand, instantly turning the frozen ice into vapor. This act had gone unnoticed by the thugs. "I'd never consider a day when I had to get five of my friends together just to gang up on a couple of girls a 'good day.' You people are honestly pathetic."

"What do you know?" One rebottled. "Me and my boys, we were just out and having a good time. Trying to have some fun, ya understand? Now you came along and ruined our good time, and now we got this frustration built up. We've got to let it out somehow, preferably with a little payback to the guy what caused it. And they say payback is a dish best served _cold!_"

With that phrase acting as a signal, the snowflakes on the headbands of the remaining four started to glow, a similar aura growing around their hands. Axel looked at the sight and chuckled slightly.

"I don't think I have anything to worry about." He said, trying to contain his laughter. "What do I have to worry about from a couple of morons too dumb to use magic when they were getting their butts kicked by a girl?"

This sent one over the edge, as he no longer was able to control his anger.

**"SHUT THE HELL UP!! I DON'T THINK YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH! NOBODY MESSES WITH THE DISCIPLES OF TWILIGHT! ****NOBODY!!"**

Axel couldn't help himself. He laughed out loud as he clenched his stomach. After about a minute of this, Axel started to calm down, his belly laugh reduced to the occasional snort.

"Damn, that was funny." He said, wiping a tear from his eye. "I'm going to assume that the pun was accidental. You just don't seem that smart."

**"THAT'S IT! KILL HIM!!"** With the signal given, the five of them casted a barrage of blizzard spells, two from each hand, for a total of ten. Axel sneered under his disguise, and with his right hand, he summoned one of his chakrams. He held it out in front and spun the chakram as fast as he could as he increased the heat of the metal, creating a wall of hot air. His maneuver instantly dissipated the blizzard spells, and the blast of air caused his scarf to blow away, leaving his face visible. Before his enemies had time to register what had happened, he stopped spinning his weapon and dashed at them, chakram raised in the air…

It was over before it begun. The five remaining gang members spread out unconscious on the cold concrete of the alley floor, bleeding from their sides that were slashed open. He had already collected the headbands from all six members after depositing his cap in a near by dumpster, and inspected them with scrutiny.

"I see, so it's the headbands that did it." He said with a sigh. "I thought something was strange with these things."

He reached down to the unconscious number one, lying face down, and grabbed him by the hair, yanking him up just enough to reveal his face.

"You jerks don't really have any magical potential at all, do you?" He asked the unconscious gang leader, not really expecting an answer. "These things are like spell books. They are able to give norms like you the ability to use magic. And like spell books, you can never use their full potential if you don't know how to use them properly. These headbands are far more powerful than you realized."

He released one's hair and sighed, his thoughts currently on his latest discovery. _These headbands are defiantly native to this world, but how did punks like these acquire something like this, much less something this powerful? It's not something you can find at Mall Street, and that is saying a lot! Something is __defini__tely__ going on here. __Something __big._

"What a pain." Axel said with another sigh. "This is supposed to be a simple recruitment job. It shouldn't get this complicated. And why do I have a feeling things are just going to get worse?"

Depressed from the new complications making his mission more difficult, Axel quietly retrieved his newly bought backpack and pulled out his jacket, slipping it over his shoulders as he buttoned it up. He took out his new gold rimmed aviators and put them on after he tied a bandana over his forehead, once again hiding his hair. He stuffed the headbands into his bag, thinking it better not to leave them here. When he was done, he looked around the alley at the dying gang. With a moment's thought, he pulled out a bottle filled with a green liquid. With but a thought, he brought the liquid to a boil and threw it down into the alley, shattering the glass. A green mist slowly crept over the six fallen, partially healing their injuries. As he watched, he spoke to the slumbering bunch once more.

"You know, the normal rule of thumb here would be to harvest your hearts, but I'm not gonna. Personally, I don't care if you losers live or die, but with the Heartless coming closer to Twilight Town, there's a chance that you lot will become Heartless yourselves if you die like this. And if I'm guessing the plan right, and if the newbie has the power that I think he does, there would be a chance that your hearts would end up in the same place they would go if I did harvest them, and that's just not gonna fly!"

Axel turned around with his backpack slung over his back. Before he exited the alley, he says one last thing to them without looking back.

"If I ever allowed hearts as rotten and as weak as yours to be added to Kingdom Hearts, Boss Xemnas would be pissed with me."

Once these last words were spoken, the Flurry of Dancing Flames strikes forward with the intent on completing his mission, come hell or high water.

Chapter 9: Side Stepped Side Story #I: R.O.A.: End.


	13. Chapter 10

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: If your life is only worth a chip in the pile, then you shouldn't up the ante.

It's been forty-five minutes since Buddy exited the odd store and resumed his seat on the bench, and fell asleep thirty minutes ago out of boredom. He sprawled out over the length of the bench, his left arm and leg hanging off the side. People stared at him as they passed by, wondering why he was sleeping in the middle of one of the busiest places in Twilight Town, thinking he was too well dressed and his clothes were too new to be homeless. At 12:45, the one who had picked out those very clothes that deceived the populace rapidly approached the slumbering boy with her mentor close behind.

"Look at him." Olette said with a sigh, her hands planted on her waist. "We nearly got killed and he's sleeping like a baby. Honestly, how weird is it that anyone could even sleep in a place like this?"

Rinoa only eyed the girl with a raised eyebrow. _You are the last one who should be calling anybody weird. Just twenty five minutes ago, you were an emotional wreck!!__ How can you recover so quickly from an experience that would scar most girls your age for life?!_

"Hey teach?" Olette asked to grab Rinoa's attention as she turned her head around to look at her teacher. "Let's not tell him or anybody else about what happened, all right? I wouldn't want anyone to worry."

"Alright…" Rinoa replied with a slight sigh. "But only if you promise me that you'll be more careful when you're in the busier parts of town, and that you won't go through alleys from now on!"

"It's a deal!" Olette replied with a smile.

"Big…"

"Who said that?" Olette asked rather startled, caught with her guard down.

"I think Buddy just said something in his sleep. He must be having a good dream!" Rinoa said, pointing a finger at the young lad. Sure enough, a big grin had appeared on his face. The slumbering Buddy had begun drooling while the girls had their brief chat, a small pool of saliva forming on the bench around his mouth. Blissfully oblivious that he now had spectators watching him at close range, he mumbled another word, barely audible to the two ladies.

"Round…"

"What the heck is he dreaming about?" Olette asked curiously as she squatted down until she was looking at Buddy face to face.

"Tender…"

"Food, most likely..." Rinoa stated with certainty.

"Juicy…"

"Wait a minute…" Olette said with a note of growing anger. **"Big!?**** Round!? Tender!? ****Juicy!?**** Why that perverted mind of his!"**

"Calm down!" Rinoa interjected before Olette could fly off the handle. She leaned over and placed her hand on Buddy's shoulder. "Let's just wake him up and ask him, okay?"

She shook his elbow back and forth gently, rousing the boy from his slumber. He sat up as he opened his eyes, rubbing away the sleep. He had a blank look on his face as he stared at his hands, held together in a circle with his thumbs and middle fingers pressing against each other.

"What happened to my meatball sub? The meatballs were HUGE!" Buddy muttered, still half asleep.

"See? It's just food!" Rinoa said with an 'I told you so' tone as she stood back up next to the blushing Olette, who was trying to hide her burning red face with her hands. "I think you're the one with the dirty mind, girl."

"Hey! You're back!" Buddy said with the realization that he was no longer asleep. He hopped up excitedly. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry…" Rinoa said in preparation for a lie as she remembered to keep the ordeal they had gone through earlier a secret. "The line was longer than I expected it to be."

"Um, Buddy?"

Buddy turned his attention toward Olette, who was standing tensely while holding her arms behind her back. Her left leg was bent slightly towards her right. Her burning red cheeks of embarrassment that had gone by unnoticed by the dirty blond haired boy had been reduced to a slight blush. Her shoulders were shrugged nervously as she tried to avoid eye contact with the boy as she gave a nervous pout.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry… about how I treated you earlier. I was being unfair to you. Please forgive me!" Olette stammered quickly. Her hands then went from behind her back to her front, laying them, her right hand on top of her left, on top of her thighs. She bowed down, sliding her hands down all the way down to her knees. Buddy stared at her, scratching his head with a confused look on his face. Then he grinned from ear to ear and gave a slight chuckle, his hand still on top of his head.

"Forget about it! What's a few arguments or a broken rib or two matter between friends anyways?" He said cheerfully.

"Right!" Olette said happily with a clap. She then eyed the friend once more and then gave a slight gasp, and a smile crept onto her face. "Now I know what that outfit is missing!"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Buddy stuttered, fearing that he would be the girl's dress-up doll once more.

"It needs just the right jacket!" Olette said excitedly, giddy once more. "And if I remember correctly, Romeo's jackets and outerwear is having a sale!"

Rinoa couldn't help but giggle as she watched the two. But then a solemn look fell over her, as she looked on with soft eyes.

"Okay you two." She said, interrupting them. "Before you two go running off, I need to talk to Olette in private. Could you give us a sec Buddy?"

"Huh?" The puzzled Buddy grunted. "But you just got here!"

"Sorry…" Rinoa replied with a forced smile. "It's really important." She pulled out a munny pouch and retrieved a couple of the small jewels. "Here's three hundred munny. Why don't you walk down to the ice cream parlor on the corner and buy yourself some sea salt ice cream?"

"It's okay Buddy." Olette assured him as she and her teacher took a seat onto the bench that Buddy had been slumbering on, after making sure to wipe up his drool. "It will only take a moment, and then I'll meet you down there. I promise."

"Well, all right, if you say so."

Buddy started down the street, leaving the two ladies to their privacy. He was barely halfway down the street when a voice called out, stopping him in his tracks.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?"

Buddy looked to his left and to his right but could see no one looking towards him. Before he could continue on his way, a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

"Hey Sora! How did you—" the person who spun Buddy around to look at him stopped when he got a good look at Buddy's face. The stranger was wearing a black sweatshirt with a hood draped over his head, rendering only the front of his face visible. His sweatshirt had a red outline of a heart inside a star emblazed on the front, with the emblem also present on the back of the black gloves he wore on his hand. He wore black jeans and plain black sneakers to round out his attire. What little of his body was visible, his face, was covered with a large patch covering his left eye and eyebrow, part of his forehead and a portion of his upper left cheek. It was tied behind his by several bands that wrapped their way around his head. His left eye was dark red, and he had black hair on the right side of his head, and white hair sticking out from under his patch on his left. His body seemed to be more muscular then Buddy's, but you the loose clothing he wore made it difficult to tell. He looked like he was only a year older than Buddy.

"Oh!" The strange dark clothed figure gasped. "I'm Sorry. I thought you were someone else." He said quickly. "Sorry for bothering you!"

He then ran off, leaving a confused Buddy standing alone. _What a weirdo._ Buddy thought to himself. _But still, I get the feeling I've seen him before._

Buddy quickly dismissed the thought as he turned back around and headed in the opposite direction. As he neared the corner, he saw the destination the girls had sent him to, but noticed that further down the street, a large crowd had formed around some unseen spectacle. Curious as to what it could be, Buddy fought and edged his way through to the front of the crowd. When he finally broke through, he saw two men sitting at a table playing a card game of some sort, and two pouches of munny were placed at the center of the table. The chair on the right had a large black bag hanging off of it. Suddenly, the player that had been sighting on the left silently got up and slumped his way into the crowd, dejected. He must have lost, since he left his pouch behind.

"Tough luck you had there." The one that remained seated said in a scoff as he reached up and grabbed his winnings, propping his feet onto the table and reclined into his chair in a show of arrogance. "But what do you expect when you go up against Setzer?"

The crowd roared over the man's boast, chanting his name in what seemed like a practiced unison. He had long light blue hair that was combed straight back and outgrown sideburns reaching down past his chin. He looked to be in his early thirties, and his skin had a slight tan to it. He wore a white silk shirt and dark blue slacks that were tucked into his light blue boots. He wore a long, heavy set dark blue coat over his shoulders like a cape.

"Okay, who's next?" He asked loudly to the crowd. "Who will be the next one to try their luck against me? If you manage to win three hands against me in a game of blackjack, I'll grant you a great honor!"

"Go up against Setzer!?" One voice in the crowd called out.

"Who in their right minds _would_" another replied in a tone suggesting disbelief at the notion.

_What a crock!_ Buddy thought as he looked on, not seeing the attraction. He was about to turn around and leave when somebody elbowed him in the back, accidentally knocking him into a clearing. He stumbled a little, but managed to regain his balance. He noticed that a silence had fallen over the crowd, as all their eyes were on him.

"So…" The man called Setzer sneered as he removed his legs from the table top. "A mere boy has more guts than the whole lot of you here, eh?"

"No, I didn't—"Buddy began as he tried to explain he really didn't have an intention to challenge the strange individual.

"Don't be shy!" Setzer said with a smile. "It took a lot of courage for you to step forward! Come! Take a seat!"

The crowd started to cheer him on, hooting and hollering at the confused Buddy. Realizing that it was already too late to back out, he took the chair that sat across from the confident Setzer.

"In admiration to your bravery, I won't be **too** tough." He smirked with arrogance. "So, how much are you willing to bet?"

"Bet?" The blond haired youth repeated, unsure of what he meant. Taking a chance, he placed the munny that Rinoa had given to him earlier onto the table. "All I got is three hundred munny."

"What am I, on a school yard betting pocket munny with my class mates?" Setzer asked sarcastically, looking at the miniscule amount. A roll of laughter washed over the crowd.

"He _actually_ intends to make such a small **bet**?!?" someone in the crowd asked loudly in exasperation.

"Seltzer's only humoring the kid!" Another called out, dismissing the thought that the famed Setzer could actually be serious.

"Kid, you have more guts than I thought you did, actually thinking that you could gamble against the famous Setzer with such chump change!" Setzer said with a chuckle. "I like that. Tell ya what, kid. Because I like you, for every hand you win, I'll triple the amount of your initial bet. How does that sound?"

"Fine… I guess…" Buddy muttered nervously, no clue of what's happening.

"Okay, then. Let's get this started!" The flamboyant gambler said after he put six hundred munny onto the table, shuffling his cards. "Don't worry it'll be over before you know it."

He dealt two cards face down in front of himself and Buddy. He immediately peaked at the cards in front of him, churning a thought around in his head. Buddy thought it would be best to do likewise as he bent the cards just enough for him to see what was on the other side, revealing the jack of clubs and the nine of diamonds.

"Well? Do you need another card?" Setzer asked.

"N-No! I'm okay!" Buddy answered nervously.

"Then the dealer takes one." He said, flipping a card onto the table, revealing the six of spades. "Now let's see who wins."

Setzer confidently flips over his face down cards, revealing a queen of hearts and a two of clubs.

"Eighteen." He said with assurance of his victory. Buddy revealed his hand, and Setzer's eyes went wide.

"Nineteen. Damn." Setzer grunted. The crowd couldn't believe what had occurred. Someone actually managed to win against Setzer. He took Buddy's cards and reshuffled them into his deck. He pushed the six hundred munny from his side to Buddy's.

"So, I won?" Buddy asked, still rather confused.

"Yes you won." Setzer replied with a sigh. He pulled out a pouch containing twenty seven hundred munny and tossed it onto the table. "But don't think you're done!"

He once again dealt out the hands face down onto the table. This time, Buddy had a ten of spades and an eight of diamonds.

"Well?" Setzer asked. Buddy, still not sure what was going on, held up a finger into the air, signifying one more card. Setzer flipped a two of hearts face up in front of the boy. "And the dealer will stay." He revealed his hand, a nine of hearts and a jack of clubs. "Nineteen."

Buddy flipped over his, and Setzer slammed his hands onto the table in disbelief. The crowd began to whisper on what they were witnessing.

"Man, that kid has got the devil's luck!"

"Could Setzer actually lose?"

Setzer, now irritated that he had lost twice in a row by someone that he had assumed didn't even know how to play the game, grabbed the munny on the table and dumped it all into a larger pouch, slamming a pouch containing eighty one hundred munny onto the table.

"**Final Round**" He said sharply. One final time, he shuffled the cards into his deck and dealt out the hands. This time, Buddy had the King and Ace of spades.

"I'll stay." Buddy said with confidence.

"You might regret that." Setzer scoffed. "You lose this, and it's all over. You lose the entire pot without being able to buy back in. The Dealer stays." Setzer flipped his hand over, revealing the Kings of diamonds and clubs. "TWENTY!"

Buddy revealed his hand, and instantly the crowd screamed "TWENTY**-ONE!**" and rushed him, showering him with praise.

"You actually beat Setzer!"

"That was amazing!"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

**"ENOUGH!!"**

The crowd fell silent as Setzer rose from his seat. He removed the sack from the chair, and with his back turned to the crowd, removed something from it, hiding it from the crowd.

"Indeed, you have won. You have amazing luck. And I said that I would bestow upon the one who bested me in three hands a great honor." Setzer said quietly. He then turned around rapidly and threw a large blue plastic bat with a yellow handle spinning towards Buddy. He managed to grab it by its handle with his left hand in one swift motion. The crowd backed off as Setzer swung down an identical club into a mock battle stance with his right hand as his left rested upon his hip.

"True to my word, I will bestow upon you the rare honor of fighting Twilight Town's Champion, Setzer Gabbiani, In a Struggle match!"

Chapter 10: If your life is only worth a chip in the pile, then you shouldn't up the ante: End


	14. Chapter 11

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 11: The first Struggle: Setzer Versus the unknown youth!

"Struggle?" A curious Buddy repeated in his cluelessness. The crowd had exploded in excitement with Setzer's declaration as Setzer glared at Buddy as he stood in his mock battle stance, intent on avenging his loss.

"Well?" Setzer asked loudly, growing impatient. "Aren't you going to take a stance? We can't struggle if you don't take a stance!"

"I would, but…"

"But what?" Setzer demanded relaxing his stance for the moment. "Spit it out! I haven't got all day!"

"What's struggle?" Buddy asked innocently, leaving the Struggle champion, along with the rest of the growing crowd dumbstruck and speechless.

"P-please tell me you're joking!" Setzer stuttered in shock as he stared at the boy with his right eye twitching slightly. "You mean to tell me that you have never heard of _Struggle?!?_"

"Nope!" Buddy chirped, scratching the back of his head. Setzer couldn't believe what he was hearing! To actually meet someone who doesn't know about one of the most popular contests in the world!

**"What rock have you been living under!?! Never heard of Struggle?! I find that hard to0 believe!"** Setzer yelled in anger, thinking that Buddy was lying to throw the champ off guard. He resumed his stance and got ready for his attack, not even caring that the size of the crowd didn't leave enough room for proper combat, nor bothering of asking the audience to give them space. He was about to lunge when someone called out over the crowd.

"SETZER! ENOUGH OF THIS!" The voice said loudly and with authority. Setzer once again relaxed his stance and looked towards the direction the voice had come from, just beyond the crowd. Buddy, still having no idea of what was happening or what he should do with the strange bat that Setzer had given him, decided to join his gaze in the same direction of Setzer's out of curiosity.

Fighting his way through swarm of people, a heavy set man emerged from the crowd and stood before Setzer. He seemed to be about five feet, nine inches tall and looked like he was in his early forties. He wore a brown dress vest on top of green sweater, which went well with his brown slacks. His black hair was combed back and to the sides, with it parting down the middle of his head. Just under his nose, he had a pencil line mustache, giving him a dignified and formal look.

"Perez!" Setzer said in surprise as he locked eyes with the rotund individual, who was obviously not happy with the brazen showboat, while Buddy only looked on silently without speaking. "What are you doing here?"

"I was shopping with my wife, but that's not the problem." The other said with authority to Setzer, whose usual holier-than-thou attitude suddenly took a leave of absence. "The problem, my good Setzer, is that you were about to hold an unsanctioned Struggle match in the middle of a crowded street. You know the rules about unsanctioned matches!"

"I don't see what the big deal is." Setzer calmly replied in a rebuttal as he ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. "I have two committee approved Struggle bats with me. I should be able to hold a match whenever I please."

"Two Struggle bats do not a proper Struggle make!" the gentleman retorted, gesturing with one of his hands as he spoke. "You know perfectly well that there is more to a Struggle than just hitting each other with bats! A lot of hard work has been done in order to make Struggle what it is. To hold an unsanctioned Struggle is to insult everyone who dedicated time and effort into this event."

"I am one of those people Perez." Setzer scoffed while lightly tapping his Struggle bat off of his shoulder. "With me as the champion, I've created a goal for witch all aspiring Strugglers can aspire to, but never attain. I have assured that people will always have a reason to Struggle! And if you want to the match to be 'official' so badly, then just say the word. You've got the authority, don't you?"

"That's the problem with you Setzer. You think that just because you are Twilight Town's Struggle Champion, you think that the rules don't apply to you. You have to realize that the rules apply to everyone! You've got to think about what kind of example you're setting for others. If I bend the rules with you, I'd have to bend it for everyone else, and I can't do that!"

"Excuse me..." Buddy interrupted with a nervous smile, starting to feel ignored. "But who are you?"

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!" The older individual squeaked, a little surprised at Buddy's sudden interjection. He cleared his throat, covering his mouth politely with a curled up fist before holding them behind his back. "I am the President of Twilight Town's branch of the Struggle Regulations Committee, but everyone calls me Perez for short."

_Yeah, but what's your name?_ Buddy thought to himself, not wanting to seem rude. "I see, and what exactly is Struggle? I'm… new to the area, and don't know all that much."

"You must be from overseas, then. Anyone from this continent not knowing about Struggle seems pretty unlikely." Perez deduced with crossed arms. "To put it simply, Struggle is a contest, usually between two individuals, who attack each other using objects such as the bat that you're holding. In a normal Struggle, each player starts out with a hundred points, and every time they successfully land a strike to their opponent, then that person drops points. You can gain points by collecting dropped points. The winner is the one who has the most points at the end of the time limit, which is usually from a minute to ten minutes."

"Wait a sec!" Buddy interrupted. "How do you '**collect**' points?"

"What are you an idiot?" Setzer scoffed loudly, staring at the teen with an irritated look in his eyes. "Do you think that there are Velcro vests that we wear and that we just stick felt balls onto?"

"Setzer calm down!!" Perez barked, glancing over his shoulder towards Setzer. He turned back towards Buddy to answer his question. "Basically, it's computers. Every designated Struggle ring has a computer that, when in conjunction with the force meter in the Struggle back and impact meters worn by the contestants, calculate how many points a contestant loses based on how much force is in each strike, and then projects them in a virtual image onto the field, and when a contestant passes through a one of these images, that point is added to the contestant's score."

"I see…" Buddy sighed. "So what you're saying is that a Struggle basically a fight."

"Basically. But we try to encourage people Struggle in designated areas with regulation equipment. Unsanctioned Struggles can get quite dangerous."

Buddy broke eye contact with Perez and then stared at Setzer, a vague thought running through his head.

"No thanks." Buddy declared loudly, earning a raised eyebrow and a puzzled look from the crowd, which had fallen silent with the arrival of Perez.

"What do you mean?" Setzer asked, unsure of the meaning of Buddy's remark.

"I won't fight you."

**"WHAT!!"** Setzer shouted in shock. The crowd started to whisper to each other, not sure of what to make of the spectacle. **"But why****"**

"Simple. I have no reason to."

**"But I'm the Champion!! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!?" **

"Not really, no. I've never even heard of you before today, to tell the truth."

"Now do you get it Setzer? You're opponent is refusing your challenge. It would be best to stop this spectacle now!" Perez stated plainly to Setzer, recoiling from Buddy's words. He couldn't believe that there was someone who didn't know who he was. But like the true entertainer that he was, he recovered quickly. He stood at the ready, posing for his fans in a picture perfect example of finesse. With a smirk, he instantly retaliated to their arguments.

"So what, are you saying that we should just have a Struggle somewhere else after all the proper channels have been gone through? Or not Struggle at all? You know perfectly well that the heart of any sport revolves around the fans. Are you saying we should just disappoint all these people?"

Setzer raised his Struggle bat into the air and the crowd exploded with cheers, the spectators clapping and calling out for a Struggle. Perez stared at the man and gave a heavy sigh.

"I can see that this could get out of hand." Perez droned, not surprised with Setzer's actions. That man has a tendency to turn everything into a performance. He turned towards Buddy. "Hey kid! You might as well go along with it."

"But I have no reason to!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter to Setzer. He loves being the center of attention. Once he gets into his show, it's impossible to stop him. The way he works a crowd, we're likely to have a riot on our hands.

"But…"

"If the honor of being in the same ring as me isn't enough…" Setzer interrupted with a sly smile crawling on his face. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a metal clip, filled with a strange roll of paper. He took the roll out and unrolled it, flashing it all to the crowd. "Perhaps **fifty thousand munny** will me enough incentive!"

_But that doesn't look like munny!_

"And before you ask, large amounts of munny can be interpreted in cotton paper form for easier management. It's not like I have a bag of holding to carry fifty thousand little gems with me."

Buddy stood silently for a minute, taking Setzer's remark as an insult to his intelligence. Setzer had gotten it right, but it still was a little insulting. The crowd watched intently and with much anticipation as Buddy gave it one last thought.

"Fine, I'll do it." The youth conceded. _If only to shut this guy up!_

The crowd gave a great cheer, and Setzer smirked in victory. Perez held up his hands to silence the noise.

"Then it's settled. But it won't happen here, let's move it back to the intersection where there is more room." The Perez ordered, and with that the crowd retreated to the intersection, forming a barrier of spectators at every street entrance, creating a make shift ring. Before Setzer could take his place, Perez stopped him with a warning. "Listen Setzer, I do this begrudgingly. This is the only time I will tolerate such actions. You'll be walking on thin ice after this, is that clear?"

"Whatever…" Setzer dismissed, not really listening to the Perez's warning. He went through the crowd after handing the prize munny to the Perez. Perez sighed and took his place as well, acting as the announcer and judge of the match. He looked around the ring once, locking eyes with both contestants, and with everyone in the crowd. After he was done, he closed his eyes and centered himself. He took his deepest breath and hollered with all his might.

**"ARE YOU READY FOR A STRUUUUUUUUUUUUGGLEEEEE?!?****"**

This sent the entire crowd into frenzy, as they cheered louder than ever before. Despite it not being a regulation match, even he couldn't help get a little into the mood as he smiled. He let them go on like that for a moment before moving on.

"This is an unregulated, unclassified Struggle match." He threw his left arm out in Setzer's direction, his palm open as if he were presenting him. "In this corner is:"

"Setzer Gabbiani." Setzer said, completing the sentence.

"And in this corner is:" He repeated, thrusting his right arm out in Buddy's direction.

"Buddy." The teen stuttered, following Setzer's example. He was a little nervous, being the center of attention once again. Perez continued, speaking loudly and to no person in particular.

"Since this is an impromptu Struggle match without the proper equipment, the regular one hundred point rules will be substituted in favor of the three strikes rule. The first to land three solid strikes to the body will be the winner. Attacks deflected by the arms will not be counted towards your score. As expected, attacking your opponent's sensitive area is strictly forbidden. Contestants, do you agree to these terms?"

"Yes." agreed Setzer.

"Okay…" stuttered Buddy.

"Then it's agreed. A moment will be granted for final comments." Perez announced. Setzer, standing at the ready, smirked with a look of victory.

"Just so you know kid, going against me in a Struggle match is a totally different matter than going against me in a card game. Your luck just officially ran out!"

"**What**ever!" Buddy retorted in defiance, standing firmly with his Struggle bat to the side. "Let's just do this already!"

**"Stru****ggle match!**** Setzer versus Buddy!****FIGHT****!"** Perez shouted as he threw down his hand in a vertical swipe between the two, signaling the start. Without any hesitation, Setzer made his move.

_**"My life is a chip in the pile…"**_ He announced passionately, striking the same battle pose from earlier, swiping his Struggle bat down diagonally with his right hand, cocking his head slightly. Standing at the opposite end of the ring from Buddy he crouched down low in preparation for a lunge.

_**"It's time to ante up!"**_ He dash towards Buddy, not even considering defense, planning on making a quick finish. His coat flapped through the air as he sprinted his arms off to the side, a look of certainty on his face. He just got into striking range, preparing to strike, when…

**BONK!**

Buddy had brought his Struggle bat down in a vertical strike, striking Setzer squarely on the head. Setzer froze immediately when he was struck, standing in the in mid dash. Everyone who witnessed it seemed to have been left speechless. Setzer looked up, with the Struggle bat still on his head, and leered at the boy.

"It seems you are more skilled than I originally thought." Setzer stated calmly, containing his anger. His eye started twitching slightly.

"I don't think my '_skill_' had anything to do with it." Buddy claimed, staring back with a blank look on his face. "I think you just made a really stupid move."

"Uh, round one to Buddy!" The Perez stated. Setzer removed himself from under the club and this time, resumed a proper battle stance.

"I won't make the same to mistake twice." Setzer said, standing at the ready. Buddy silently grasped his struggle bat tightly with both hands, bending his knees slightly. They waited for the signal to begin the next bout.

**"Round Two, FIGHT!"**

Anyone else who had lost the first round would have waited for their opponent to make the first move, but Setzer wasn't anybody else. He quickly thrust his club forward, aiming for Buddy's abdomen. Buddy quickly defused his attack by swinging his bat up, knocking it off center, and swung it to Setzer's side, landing a second blow. The crowd erupted into elation, either cheering for Buddy or against him. Perez excitedly announced the winner.

**"Round two to Buddy!"**

Setzer, jumped back a couple feet. His anger is now clearly visible on his face.

"THAT'S IT! NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY!! NOW YOU FACE THE **STRUGGLE SCREWDRIVER!**" He yelled with intensity. He glared at Buddy, unchaining his coat from around his neck and threw it into the crowd. Perez instantly announced the next round.

**"Round Three, Fight!"**

Setzer instantly leaped forward with unexpected power, flying through the air, spinning as he flew towards Buddy. Buddy looked on at the amazing spectacle and thought _Holy Crap!_

Not able to dodge, Buddy blocked the spinning Struggle bat with his own, reinforcing it by resting it on his arm. He could feel the sheer force that Setzer attacked with, pushing him back a little. Setzer stopped spinning, no longer able to get the necessary turning force, and before he could land, Buddy swung his Struggle bat up with all his might, nailing Setzer squarely on the chin. Sent flying away, Setzer landed a few feet away and the crowd roared, cheering for the victorious, and mysterious, youth. Before Setzer even landed, The Struggle President yelled with excitement and passion:

**"MATCH TO BUDDY!"**

Chapter 11: The First Struggle Match: End.


	15. Chapter 12

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Fare thee well Setzer, See ya later Rinoa!

As soon as Setzer landed, the audience cascaded into the street to mob the young teen hero as if he were the next big idol. Before he could react, he was surrounded by the crowd with no escape. They started asking questions that he didn't know the answer to and started panicking, looking for an escape path. He kept looking back and forth for an opening, any opening.

**PHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!**

The sound of a whistle blasted throughout the square, piercing the eardrums of the entire crowd. Covering their ears to protect their hearing, everyone looked in the direction of the source of the irritating sound to see Perez blowing on a brass referee's whistle as hard as he can. Once he ran out of breath, and caught the attention of everyone in a three block radius, he returned it to his pocket.

"Okay, that's enough. Break it up! Break it up!" Perez ordered, shoeing away the crowd with an annoyed look on his face. The crowd dispersed, groaning with annoyance for being dismissed. As the crowd left, Perez wandered up with a big smile on his face.

"Thanks for the save." Buddy chuckled nervously, breathing a sigh of relief. Perez couldn't help but laugh in amusement.

"No problem." The elder man chirped, resting his fists on his hips. "I must say, that was amazing. You are deceptively strong."

"Really?" Buddy replied. His thoughts momentarily went back to his experience with the Keyblade in the antique store. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't something that would be considered 'normal.' He realized that he would have to think about it later.

"BUDDY!!" a familiar high pitched squeal screamed out in joy. He barely turned around to see the source, when he was glomped by an excited Olette, capturing him into a big bear hug.

**"BUDDYTHATWASSOCOOLHOWDIDYOUDOTHATYOUACTUALLYBEATSETZER!!"** She squealed in one breath, her arms still wrapped around the exasperated Buddy, unable to free himself from the girl's grip.

_"Olette…. you're…..crushing…….me"._ Buddy whispered, unable to take in air from Olette's monster hug. Rinoa, as always, follows a step behind the girl.

"OLETTE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LET HIM GO! HE'S STARTING TO TURN BLUE!" the educator shouted, catching the attention of the girl. Olette immediately released the blond haired teen, and he took in a deep breath, his lungs freed from the girl's grip. _This girl is detrimental to my health!_

"Sorry!" She said shyly, tilting her head slightly in a show of innocence. "But I couldn't help myself. That was just so cool!"

"That was impressive." Rinoa stated, repeating Perez's and Olette's sentiments.

"Thanks!" he replied with slight embarrassment, his cheeks blushing slightly. But the red quickly faded from his cheeks as he stood around as if a slight thought was rolling around in his head. "But he really didn't seem all that strong. What was the big deal about that guy?"

"Well…" Perez drawled, thinking back a couple years. "I guess you could say he's a victim of his own success."

"Huh?" The three chanted in unison, not sure of the meaning behind Perez's remark.

"Back before he became the champion, he would train day in and day out, all to claim the Struggle championship. When he finally claimed it, challengers started calling him out almost daily. Eventually, as he started defeating more and more people, the challengers stopped coming, saying that it was a futile effort to Struggle against him, calling him unbeatable! With no one to challenge him, Setzer wasn't practicing as much as he used to, and eventually he stopped training all together. Instead, he just spent all of his time showboating and gambling his life away, thinking that he was unstoppable."

"I see…" Rinoa whispered loudly with a look of empathy on her face. "I guess it was only a matter of time before somebody brought him down. When he fell, he fell hard and fast. It makes me wonder if somebody like him could actually have the strength to recover."

By this time, Setzer had gotten up and had already walked over to where his coat laid. Feeling like he should say something, Buddy walked over to him as Setzer kneeled to retrieve his coat, stopping a few feet away.

"Uh, hey Setzer…" Buddy muttered nervously, scratching his cheek slightly. Setzer paused as he kneeled down, his hand on his coat. He didn't bother to turn his head and look the youth in the face. Buddy couldn't think of exactly what to say to consol solemn champion. He improvised and thrust out his fist into the air, thumb sticking straight up, and gave a wink with his with his right eye. "Good match!"

"You…. You beat me." Setzer said in a hushed, almost whisper like tone as the reality of what happened slowly sunk in. He slowly retrieved his coat and stood back up.

"Yeah… I guess I did." Buddy replied, a little uncomfortable at the moment. He fidgeted slightly. _I hope he doesn't carry a grudge._

"I… I feel… humbled." The champion lamented, still not looking towards the boy, now joined by the others, observing silently. Setzer quietly returned his coat over his shoulders, still not facing the group.

"Hey, it's not like the match meant anything! Don't take it so hard!" the teen replied. He stuck out his right hand, palm open, in a gesture of friendship. "Bygones?"

Setzer paused for a moment, and then quickly turned around and grabbed the boy's and pulled nervously in slightly, looking deep into the boy's eyes. Buddy gulped nervously as Setzer glared at him with intensity.

"It's up to you now." He dictated with authority. "I'm leaving it to you to represent Twilight Town. Don't lose." He then released Buddy's hand and quickly walked away.

**"Wait!"** Buddy called out after him through cupped hands. **"What do you mean?"**

It was too late though, as Setzer disappeared into the crowd. All Buddy could think to say was "You forgot your Struggle bat."

He then noticed an envelope in his right hand. Setzer must have slipped it in when he grabbed it. "What's this?"

Why don't you open it to find out?" Olette stated, a little curious as to what it could be.

"Okay, okay…" Budd said. He noticed that the top of the envelope was already cut open. He reached in and pulled out a ticket with the words 'Special Pass' emblazed on it, followed by a lot of fine print.

"GAH!" Perez gasped, taken back by the sight of the slip of paper. "That's a pass to go straight past the preliminaries matches and straight into the first round of the Struggle Slam!"

**"NO WAY!"** The two females said loudly in disbelief. **"WHY WOULD SETZER GIVE AWAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"**

"This may sound stupid…" Buddy muttered, once again finding himself out of the loop. "But what's 'struggle Slam?' Is it some kind of tournament?"

"It's only the **biggest** Struggle tournament EVER!" Olette explained loudly. "It's the only thing that Struggle junkie _Hayner_ has been able to talk about all summer!"

"It is?" Buddy replied, not seeing the significance of the statement. Rinoa, who noticed that really did nothing to alleviate the boy's confusion, decided to step in.

"Vague much Olette?" Rinoa scoffed, and then turned towards Buddy. "Basically, it's a tri-annual tournament, attracting Strugglers from across the continent. The first round is a free-for-all battle against all the qualifying Strugglers, Taking a whole day with the ring being a entire section of the city! At the end of the day, the eight Strugglers with the best scores remaining are the winners and move on to the final rounds."

"Wow, really?" Buddy gasped, impressed with the sheer scope one tournament could have. "And I suppose that since he was a champion, he was given a free pass into the first round without having to go through the prelims?"

"Yep." Perez replied. "The champions of all of the major areas are given such a pass. Most of them tend to use it to stake out the first round area, Downtown Dawn city, and find places to pick off other contestants one by one."

"But why would Setzer give me something like this?" Buddy inquired, staring at the ticket. Perez had a look of contemplation and wonderment about him as he looked on in the direction of Setzer's departure.

"It's because you reminded him of why he became a struggler in the first place." Perez stated with his hands held behind his back, sounding almost like a scholar imparting ancient wisdom to a new generation.

"What do you mean?" The youth inquired. Perez heaved a sigh as he went off on a tangent to the conversation. The three others listened intently.

"When I first met Setzer, struggling was his dream. He wanted so much to improve, to become better than he already was. I saw something in the lad that I knew could be the potential for something grand. Back then, he wasn't anything like he is today. He was considerate, kind, and valued fairness above all else. It seemed like he was doing all the right things. But then…"

Perez turned around, and with a solemn look on his face, he shook his head in disappointment.

"But then he finally managed to win the Twilight Town's Championship. And as I've said before, that was when everything went sour. He stopped practicing, started gambling, and began carrying that god awful ego around with him where ever he went. I can't believe how it could have gone so wrong."

Perez walked over towards Buddy and placed his hand on the youth's shoulder and looked in the boy's eyes with a smile on his face.

"But you reminded him. He thought he was the strongest there was until he lost to you. It helped him realize that the old saying was true: 'There is always someone better.' Someone who is better Struggler, a better fighter, and a better person. If he remembers this, then I have no doubt that there's hope for him. As long as he carries this in his heart, I have no doubt that he will make that 'someone better' himself."

Perez looks back down the street, a look of certainty on his face.

"When he returns, I have no doubt that he will be a stronger opponent."

"Anyways…" He said as he turned back towards the three. "It's time I got back to my wife. If she comes out of the store and notices that I'm gone, there will be hell to pay!"

He grabbed the struggle bat from Buddy and replaced it with the munny sack, already containing the roll of fifty thousand munny.

"You should really consider fighting in Struggle Slam." He encouraged, grinning like the fanatic that he is. "I would love to see more of your moves. And don't worry about the Struggle bat! I'll make sure it get's returned to Setzer."

He walked off, leaving the three standing in a dumbfounded silence until Olette broke it, saying "Man, Hayner is going to be _**sooo**_ pissed when he finds out."

"I'd… imagine." Rinoa replied, not really paying attention. Buddy suddenly snapped out of his amazement, and rummaged through his munny sack.

"Rinoa?" He said, catching the teacher's attention. He plopped the roll of munny into her hands. Rinoa's jaw immediately hit the floor at the astronomical amount for a teenager to have.

"B-B-B-BUT HOW!? WHY!? WHAT FOR!?" She stuttered in exasperation. Olette was stunned silent to see some who she knew didn't have a munny to his name suddenly had more munny than her, even if she saved up for a year.

"Setzer said I had to 'bet' to play. All I had was the munny you gave me. It wouldn't be right for me to keep it"

"That's nice but…" Rinoa drawled uncomfortably, trying to resist the temptation of pocketing the munny, she grabbed Buddy's hand and placed the roll in, closing the hand into a fist. Sometimes, it just doesn't pay being a good citizen. "I gave that munny to you. It was yours to keep and do with what you wished. I couldn't just take it back from you."

"But—"

"No buts!" She said sharply and with a slight glare. Buddy could see that there was no way for him to win, so he turned to Olette and opened his munny pouch containing eighty-one hundred munny.

"How much do I owe you for the clothes?" He asked the brightly dressed girl. Olette tilted her head slightly and crossed her arms in a pose of mock thought.

"Tell you what…" She said slyly, leaning towards him slightly. "You treat me to sea salt ice cream, and we'll call it even okay?"

"Fine…" The youth conceded, realizing that arguing with her would be equally pointless. The two girls giggled at the defeated youth.

"Well, I've got to get going." Olette said with a smile. "It was nice meeting you Buddy. Olette, remember what we talked about!"

"I will! See you later Ms. Heartily!" Olette called out.

"Nice meeting you too!" Buddy replied after the woman.

"See you guys around!" she called out with a wave as she walked away into the crowd.

Chapter 12: Fare thee well Setzer, So long Rinoa: End


	16. Chapter 13

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 13: Side Stepped Side Story #II: Wind blowing through Space

In Traverse Town's District three, the sounds of battle ring out. Black creatures crawl over the confined square, all poised to attack an odd trio of adventurers. They dissolved into dark wisps of vapor as they were struck. One of them, a mage, cast spell after spell to cover the two warriors, magically induced lightning and fire crackling in the air.

"WATCH OUT FOR THE HEARTLESS ON YOUR LEFT SORA!" A large dog like being called out to his colleague, defending from the attack of creature wearing a helmet and some a strange heart shaped mark on its chest. He swung the same shield he brandished in defense against the creature around and struck it down.

"I SEE IT GOOFY!" A brown haired youth hollered back. He brought his weapon, which appeared to be a Keyblade, back and threw it at what looked like a large balloon type creature with a mouth. True to what it resembles, it popped, releasing black vapor when it was struck.

"THUNDER! FIRE!! BLIZZERD!!!" A duck like being called out in a scratchy voice, waving his wand in the air violently. The corresponding lightning, fireball, and ice blast flew out of the wand and blasted away the black creatures.

As the battle raged in the square, a lone spectator watches quietly from the roof tops. Wrapped in a dark leather cloak, he has his right arm resting on his left knee, which he has propped up on the edge guard of the building. He looks on, analyzing them with scrutiny. He seems interested particularly in the brown haired youth, paying the other two no mind.

Suddenly, a burst of air came out of nowhere and nailed him in the face, catching him of guard. It knocked off the individual's hood revealing a man in his late thirties. He had an eye patch over his right eye and a large scar coming up from under the left side of his chin, up his cheek, and stopping just under his remaining, piercing yellow eye. His greasy, unkempt, black hair was tied back in a pony tail with a rubber band. He stumbled back slightly before managing to regain his footing.

"You know how dangerous that is Xigbar. Standing so close to the edge like that."

"Xaldin!" The Xigbar said with slight annoyance as he looked up. Hovering in the sky, there was a man roughly the same age as he, wearing the same attire as he, standing on a spear that was floating in mid air. He had his hood over his head and held his fists behind him in a posture of strict discipline.

"I never get tired of seeing you ride those spears of yours through the air like that." Xigbar said, ignoring the rather rude and spiteful hello his colleague gave him. "And you approached without making a sound. Simply amazing."

"It's nothing." Xaldin replied coldly. The spear he was riding on vanished in a gust of air, dropping him straight down. He landed with his hands still behind his back, not breaking his posture even to bend his knees slightly to lessen the impact of the landing. He removed his hood, revealing a stark contrast between his appearance and his colleague. His hair was done in several perfectly braided strands that he wore from a top knot on the back of his head. His features were well kept, and he had an air of class about him. He looked at the scruffy looking Xigbar with his blue eyes filled with disdain. "It is only a fraction of what one is capable of when they know everything there is to know about their element, and have spent the time to train in the ways to properly use that knowledge. You are wasting your talents and your element, Xigbar. If you would only apply yourself, you could be capable of so much! Why, ripping open a black hole in the fabric of space wouldn't be beyond your abilities."

Xigbar listened to Xaldin's lecture haphazardly, cleaning his right ear with his pinky. Once Xaldin was finished, the two stood silently for a moment, Xigbar examining his pinky.

"HEY! Didn't you hear anything I said!" Xaldin snarled in demand. Catching Xigbar's attention, he shrugged his shoulders with a big grin plastered on his face, as if to dismiss Xaldin's speech.

"That's easy for you to say!" He chided, not taking the notion seriously, much to the annoyance to his cohort. Getting on Xaldin's nerves was Xigbar's favorite past time. Lucky for him, it was pretty easy. "Do you know how many areas of study where space can be a factor? There's astrology, astronomy, quantum physics, just to name a few. My brain would fry from all that scientific nerd speak! No thanks! Besides, I have my own way of doing things."

"Whatever." Xaldin droned, not even bothering to argue with the Nobody.

"So, did you catch a whiff of the Kahuna's breath?" Xigbar asked, changing the subject.

"Ugh, don't remind me of that stench! Something that rancid shouldn't come out of that end. And he had to have a surprise inspection of the castle that day. It'll take months for me to air out the castle and be rid of that smell." Xaldin complained.

"It got into my hair. I couldn't stand the smell so I had to wash it." Xigbar whined

"You should do that more than once a year, you know."

"Come again?"

"Nothing. Shouldn't we get down to business?" Xigbar asked. The two walked towards the edge overlooking District three, and looked down at the trio below, still in battle.

"Is that him?" Xaldin asked after returning his hands behind his back, starring down at the brown haired boy.

"Yep." Xigbar replied, joining his gaze with Xaldin's. "That's got to be him. The new kid's other."

"What makes you so sure that there is even going to be a thirteenth anyways?"

"I like to keep my "ears" open. Listen in on the lesser's conversations. Paying attention to the Saix's and Big Kahuna's behavior helped too. It's pretty easy to piece it together once you have all the facts."

"Intriguing." Xaldin said silently.

"Between you and me, it's sort of a letdown." Xigbar moaned in disappoint. "I mean, I got all excited to hear that there was a new Keyblade wielder, and it turns out to be some kid who can't even swing it properly!"

"Are you comparing him to those three from ten years ago?" Xaldin guessed as he glanced at Xigbar for a moment. "We should be considering ourselves lucky. Wielders of their level could be… problematic, for us."

"I guess…" Xigbar groaned, still sounding disappointed.

"Why would Xemnas and Saix keep a possible thirteenth a secret?" Xaldin inquired, a hint of anger in his voice.

Xigbar turned around and walked into the building a little before turning back around. He gave a shrug.

"Who knows? I've never really understood how Kahuna thinks. And since Saix is his bitch, so he wouldn't tell anyone if the Kahuna said not to."

"He looks pretty normal. Not like a Heartless at all." Xaldin said in observation as he turned back around to face Xigbar. "Are you sure he has a Nobody?"

"Oh, I'm sure." Xigbar retorted with certainty. He dug through his pocket and pulled out a memory card. He flicked it at Xaldin at an amazing speed. "Check it."

Xaldin caught the speeding storage device and stared at it momentarily without a word. He retrieved a handheld computer from his own pocket and inserted the memory card into one of its slots and accessed his contents. His eyes went wide as the statistics of the boy they were discussing came up on his handhelds screen, some sort of coded language flashing back and forth, relaying and listing information. He looked up toward Xigbar in slight shock. "This is…"

"Yep." Xigbar said triumphantly. He held his hands behind his own back, partially to mock Xaldin, and started to pace back and forth. "That boy is a walking, talking Heart, or to be more precise, a Heart that is being protected by some false form, duplicating the most his appearance. He has no real body to speak of, and what little of his 'soul' he does have is pretty close to nada."

"How is this **possible!?**" Xaldin said in disbelief. Xigbar gave a loud, sinister chuckle.

"This coming from an walking impossibility!!" He said with an evil grin. "We're **Nobodies,** remember? Our very existence is impossible!"

Xaldin calmed himself down. He hated it when Xigbar was right.

"So, do you think this was brought about by the power of the Princesses of Heart?" Xaldin asked coldly with a scowl.

"How the hell should I know? This type of thing isn't my specialty!"

While the two argued, a bright light flashed from the square, catching both of their attentions. As the light faded, the two returned to the edge to see what the cause was. The Heartless that had been crawling all over the square, and the brown haired boy was on one knee, holding onto his Keyblade, which was sunk into the concrete floor. The two dark clothed individuals stood on the roof top dumb struck as the youth retrieved his weapon and proceeded with his compatriots to the entryway Of District two.

"Well, that was… unexpected." Xigbar muttered, still caught off guard of the youth's attack. Xaldin, however, started glared at the boy, his thoughts racing.

_This is bad. I think we gravely underestimated this boy. If he is capable of this only after such a short time with the __Keyblade__, if left alone, he'll be a problem for us later on. The time to kill him…_

_**"Wings of the Sky Lord!"**_ Xaldin yelled with his arms stretched out. In an explosion of air, five spears appeared, hovering around him in a circular formation. Just as he summoned his weapons, the duck and the dog like beings entered a house next the door, the brown haired youth right behind them.

_**…IS NOW!**_

And with that thought, he threw his arms forward, and with a blast of air, the five spears followed suite, cutting through the air like missiles. Just as they were only a couple feet away from striking him down, about a fraction of a second after being launched, five portals opened up in their path. As each of the spears disappeared into the portals, five more appeared behind them, a lance launching out of each one, cracking through the roof and creating a large hole in the abandoned building's topside, and several floors below, impaling themselves on the foundation of the structure. Before Xaldin could react, another portal opened right in front of his face and a hand appeared holding a gun like weapon with a large needle, the tip only inches from his face. It had a large circle top, and needles adorned the guard of the gun's grip. He instinctively froze in his place.

"Hold on a second sparky!" Xigbar said snidely. He walked over to the immobile Xaldin, and hung himself on the man's right side, draping his left arm over Xaldin's shoulder, giving him the view of Xigbar's hand disappearing into a portal. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Xigbar…" Xaldin seethed in anger. "You have a lot of nerve, waving your _Twin Satellite_ in my face!"

"Not as much nerve as you!" Xigbar said, hissing into Xaldin's ear. "Don't you remember what Kahuna said? The kid at the moment is verboten at the moment! You're not exactly acting in the Organization's best interest."

**"YOU ARE THE LAST ONE WHO SHOULD BE LECTURING ME ON THE ORGANIZATION'S INTEREST!"** Xaldin roared.

"Hey! Settle down for a minute! Let's just talk this out like civilized monsters, alright pal?"

"Xigbar…" Xaldin said under his breath, remembering the hatred he had for Xigbar back when they were both still under the apprenticeship of Ansem the Wise. "You have no idea how much joy it brings me that I am not, nor will I ever be your _pal!_"

After he hissed these words, Xigbar felt a sharp at the back of his head.

"Ah crap. I forgot about the sixth one."

"Yes. Yes you did." Xaldin cackled with a sneer. "Now you listen to me you uneducated, uncultured piece of excrement! Everything I do, I do for the Organization! What we just saw that boy do is an adequate example of his power. If that is what he is capable of as an incomplete being, and after such little experience with that weapon, if he is left to his own devices, he could become a genuine threat to the organization, even if he never realizes his true potential with the absence of a body and a soul. Is that meager pebble of a brain of yours grasping this so far?"

Xigbar just stood silently, the two of them frozen in a genuine standoff. The smile he had on earlier had disappeared.

"I'll take your silence as a 'yes.'" Xaldin continued. "Now combine that with your little theory. Bar none, the strongest chain that keeps our Organization together is the Sheer impossibility it is to locate our others. Our Hearts lost amongst the sea of Heartless, picking one out of the lot is a futile effort. Even a fool can see that. But it won't apply to the thirteenth. If he were to ever learn of this boy's existence, he'll seek him out, compromising us in a way we've never been before! Don't you understand what that means?"

Still, Xigbar remained silent.

"IT MEANS THAT NOT ONLY DOES THIS BOY THREATEN THE ORGANIZATION 'S EXISTENCE, HE THREATENS THE ORGANIZATION'S STABILITY AS WELL! I REFUSE TO LET SOMEONE AS DANGEROUS TO US AS HIM LIVE JUST SO A BATTLE JUNKIE LIKE YOU CAN HAVE YOUR KICKS!"

Still, Xigbar remained silent.

"Xigbar…" Xaldin sighed. He continued onto a more serious topic. "Leave the Organization."

His demands gave Xigbar a jolt. His eyes started to twitch slightly.

"I told you this before back when we were both apprentices. You don't belong with us. You had no interest in the subject matter, you repeatedly skipped out on you studies, and you would leave for days on end. You were a lay about then, and you're a lay about now. You are scum of the lowest common denominator. You don't belong with the Organization. Release me right now, and never return to the Castle."

"…"

"Well, don't just stand there like an idiot! If you've got something to say, then say it and leave."

"I say: you forgot that I have _two_ hands!" Xigbar cackled. A shot rang out of the air, and a blue bolt struck the side of the lance, knocking it away. Another portal had opened up from the side, and Xigbar's other hand held another gun like weapon. The portals disappeared, Xigbar's hands returning to their proper place.

"It seems…" The Freeshooter hissed under his breath, clenching The Whirlwind Lancer's chest tightly. "That number three needs to be reminded that, although Saix is Xemnas's right hand, I'm still his number **two!**"

With that, Xigbar pulled down Xaldin violently, kneeing him hard in his back with such force, it would cripple anybody else. He then kicked him up in the air, once again grabbed Xaldin by his chest, and slammed him into the paved roof, sending stone shards flying as the concrete spider webbed out from under the hurting Xaldin. Xigbar brought his gun straight under his captive's chin.

"Have I got your attention?" Xigbar chided, continuing without even waiting for a reply. "Good. Now before I begin, I'll concede to you this: You are right. I am crap. The scum of the Earth, scrape your boot on the sidewalk type of crap. But you know something?"

Xigbar brought his face up close to Xaldin's. He looked deep into his eyes and spoke softly and with malice in his voice.

"I'm the kind of crap that gets shit done."

"What do you mean?"

"And you were accusing me of being slow!" Xigbar barked. "Let me say it in words you understand. I work my but off! That's the only reason that I'm not rotting in that god forsaken **pile of ****rubble** they are calling Castle Oblivion! Don't you get what's happening? The Kahuna is placing the useless ones off to the side, and keeping the ones who actually **Work!** And let me tell you friend, from what I've read on your performance report, you're **this** close to joining four, five and six, snacking on leftover instant ramen! Do you understand me?"

"Yes." Xaldin answered solemnly. _I hate to admit it, but he's good. I'd never tell that to his face, though._

"Good." Xigbar said, removing his gun from Xaldin's chin and dismissing it. He stood back up as Xaldin crawled to his feet. "Just so we're clear."

"So, aren't you going to prove to me how 'wrong' I am?"

"Yes. Yes I will. While it is true the brat is a danger to us, there is another, more immediate danger lurking about."

"Which is?"

"The Kahuna's Heartless."

"I knew that already!"

"Well, since the Kahuna decided he not wanting anything to do with it, it'll be dangerous for us to let it do whatever it pleases."

"Now you're just restating the obvious. What's your point?"

"The POINT is, the boy with big Keyblade down there has decided to destroy the Heartless and rescue his friend, which coincidentally, is currently in the clutches of Kahuna's Heartless."

Xaldin's eyes flared, coming to a rather obvious revelation.

"You don't mean…"

"Good lord he can be TAUGHT!" Xigbar sarcastically called out, throwing his arms into the air. "This is what we do! We let the brat keep going on his merry way, and let him take on the big bad Heartless. Even if he and his friends can't beat Xehanort, they'll at least weaken him enough for us org members to finish him off without any effort. And best case scenario, our two little problems finish each other off, and we won't have to lift a finger."

"And if he should win?"

"You saw the information on him. You know as well as I do that a body like his won't last forever. Sooner or later, that false form of his will run out of steam, and when it does…"

"He'll pop like a balloon." Xaldin said with a smile.

"Exactly. All we have to do until then is make sure the new kid is too busy to ask questions. It's as simple as that."

"I hate to admit it…" Xaldin conceded. "But it's a good idea."

"I knew you liked me." Xigbar chuckled.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Existing."

"Oh honey! Don't be that way! What will the children think!"

And thus the two went on into the break of dawn.

Chapter 13: Side Stepped Side Story #II: Wind blowing through Space: End


	17. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Side Stepped Side Story #III Pt 1: Back at the castle.

At the entrance to the castle that never was, a Dark Corridor is silently weaved together in wisps of darkness. Shattering the bone chilling silence is a stifled muttering emitting from the door. Stepping out of it was Xaldin, not too pleased with the events of earlier that day. What he considered an unpleasant encounter with his least favorite Nobody, he stands at the Brink of Despair, cursing under his breath.

"Pretentious, egotistical, cocky little…" He said with his hands held behind his back in his usual pose, eyes closed as his eyebrow twitched, grinding his teeth as he vented. He was facing towards the entrance of the castle as the Dark Corridor faded away, revealing behind him a old woman wearing a tan, tattered cloak. Xaldin, still lost in venting the anger he accumulated from his less than favorable meeting with Xigbar, has yet to notice the presence of the mysterious figure until she spoke.

"Excuse me…" She squeaked in an old, cracking, shrill of a voice, capturing Xaldin's attention immediately. He turned around in alert, summoning one of his spears with his right hand in preparation for battle, but as soon as he saw the aged woman, he relaxed his posture still standing on guard. The woman looked as if she were centuries old, and had aged in the worst of ways, leaving her a very uncomfortable sight to look at. _What in the name of Kingdom Hearts is this woman doing in this world?_ He thought with this suspicion. The woman spoke again in her irritating voice.

"Do you by any chance have room for a weak old woman to rest her bones for the night?" She pleaded, grabbing onto her cane with all her might.

"No." Xaldin replied without a thought, eyeing the old woman with scrutiny. He was certain that she was employing some sort of deviltry to even arrive at this castle, much less this world. "I regret to inform you that there is no room for you here. Now, if you will kindly take your leave, then I can take mine."

He turned on his heel and promptly headed toward the door, only to be stopped by the woman's irritating voice. Xaldin was beginning to find it almost as annoying as spending time with Xigbar.

"Surely the lord of such a magnificent castle has a place to stick an old woman like me?" She once again begged a second time.

"You are mistaken." Xaldin snarled as he thrust his spear down, slamming the razor sharp tip of it into the marble floor, cracking the marble slightly. "I am not this castle's lord, and even were I to take your request to him, you would still be not welcome here. We have a strict policy on guests. Now leave."

But even before he could turn around, the old woman pleaded a third time."Please, it will be only until the sun rises. Then I'll depart to the next town."

"THE SUN **NEVER** RISES HERE!" Xaldin roared, moving with such speed, approached the old woman, thrusting the spear towards her, the blade halting just an inch from her nose. "And there is no 'next town!' Now, leave this world post haste, or else I will remove you by force!"

Once again, he turned on his heel without waiting for a reply. He was halfway to the entry way when another voice called out to him, completely different from the abysmal scratch from before.

"It seems I have found another one."

He whirled around more and saw instead of the old woman that had been pestering him, he saw a beautiful woman. She wore the same type of cloak as the old woman, but it wasn't the same tattered rag as before, but a fine silk cloak that clung to her body. She gracefully walked towards Xaldin.

"It seems I found another oh high and mighty castle dweller with a decrepit heart!" She said as her heels clicked on the marble flooring. Suddenly, a blue flash shot out of her step and zoomed on the floor towards Xaldin. Before Xaldin could react, the blue light split apart and concentrated on either side of him. The stone marble emanating the light suddenly came to life, erupting from the floor and encasing Xaldin's arms, trapping him in it.

"What the hell are you?" Xaldin demanded.

"I am an Enchantress." She said, her voice sing sweet like honey, the clicking of her heels still echoing throughout the palace. "Once upon a time, not all that long ago, I came from a world where even longer back, I came across another palace."

_Ugh, she's going to start a monologue!_ Xaldin thought in disgust as the enchantress came to a halt a couple feet away. _As if I needed another reason to kill her!_

"Just as I did now, I assumed the form of an old woman." She said as her hand started glowing. "I appealed before the lord, just as I had done to you. Just as you had, he denied me three times."

"And I should care…. Why?" Xaldin asked snidely.

"You should care because, like him, I gave him the opportunity to do the right thing, and both of you decided to decline that, and spurn an old woman. If the two of you had decided to do the right thing, you both threw it away, and now, you shall be rewarded a form to match your cruel Heart!"

_I should tell her, but I think it'd be crueler to let her find out on her own._ Xaldin thought. The Enchantress stuck out the finger of her glowing hand. The light drained from her hand and into her finger, pointing the glowing appendage to Xaldin's forehead.

"This is my strongest curse." She chuckled. "Even if I die, it will persevere. The last one I cast this one did have a strong heart, even though it was a monstrous one. Most people go insane when witnessing their new, monstrous form. I wonder how you will fare…"

"Do you expect me to be afraid?" Xaldin scoffed.

"No." She replied. "I expect you to suffer."

The light arced from her finger into Xaldin's forehead instantly, sounding like a gunshot into the air. Xaldin's head shot back.

"Gah!" He yelled in pain. His head hang back, eyes rolled up into his head.

"Well, well…" she sang as she circled around the man. "I wonder what you will become? The last prince who I cast this curse on had the arms of a bear, the body of a wilder beast, the fangs and hind quarters of a wolf and the horns of the devil. I can hardly wait and see..."

She stood in front of for a moment, tapping her heel impatiently, watching him writhe in pain."Well? What's taking so long?" She asked to herself a little loudly. "You should have at least sprouted a tail by now!"

Suddenly, Xaldin froze, and brought his head forward, a big sinister grin spread across his face.

**"PSYCHE!!"** He hollered evilly. Instantly, the marble trapping him shattered from wind blades cutting the stone to shreds, freeing his arms.

"HOW?!?" She demanded stepping back slightly out of surprise. "How could it have not worked on you!?!"

"It is very simple woman. You said that you're spell transforms one into a form befitting their Heart. You see, the thing is…" Xaldin stated as he gave each of his sleeves a slight tug with the opposing hand before dusting the marble off of his sleeves. He then looked up and glared at the woman. **"I HAVE NO HEART!!!"**

The Enchantress was taken back, unable to believe that such a creature existed. She starts backing away slowly.

"Well?" Xaldin asked impatiently. "Aren't you going to use another spell?"

The Enchantress twitched nervously, still backing up slowly. She kept silent, not answering Xaldin's question.

"Come now…" Xaldin urged, extending his free hand, palm open towards her. "A great Enchantress like you must know how to cast a spell as simple as _ventus!_"

And with that, a gust of wind came out of nowhere and knocked the Enchantress back, her heels skidding across the marble floor as she struggled to keep her balance. The wind died as quickly as it came, and she looked at Xaldin with fear in her eyes.

"I guess it is true then. An Enchantress is a master of** enchantments**. Battle magic is beyond them." Xaldin sneered. "Well, I guess that makes things that much easier for me!"

"No…" The enchantress muttered, and immediately ran in the opposite direction. But before she could escape, a dark veil erected itself before her, halting her progression. She starts charging up a magic spell.

"Don't bother." Xaldin advised. "That shield is made up of pure dark energy. Your magic can't break it, nor can it allow you to teleport away. Any attempt against that field would just be a waste of your energy."

"What do you want to do to me?" She demanded defensively, now thinking that she bit off more than she could chew. Xaldin caressed the blade of his lance with his gloved finger, admiring his well maintained weapon.

"Three times." Xaldin stated, glaring at the woman wit murderous intent, the tables being turned against the Enchantresses favor. He starts walking slowly, allowing the fear to sink into her mind. "Three times you have tried to gain access to a place where strangers are not welcome, and three times you have been denied, and you have yet to vacate the premises. Now you must pay the price for your not heeding my orders."

"What kind price could you want?" she asked, cowering in defense.

"Why, it's simple my dear." Xaldin snickered. "Your heart should be more than adequate."

The color drained from her face. She started to get desperate.

"Wait a second! Perhaps I have been too hasty in my judgment." She stated. She then began to give her best sultry voice, laying it on nice and thick, posturing just so to give her foe a view of her curved form. "Couldn't you let me go? I'll promise not to return. And I'll make it worth your while…"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Xaldin replied, waving his finger back and forth in the air, unaffected by the Enchantress's wiles. "You know what the location of our world is. You could invite unneeded trouble, and I can't have that."

"Oh come on!" She complained. "What could I do?"

"You can tell people where this world is, that's what you could do!" He replied without a thought. "And even if you were to give me your word that you wouldn't speak of it, I cannot take that chance."

"BUT—" The enchantress pleaded in vain.

"Enough!" Xaldin commanded. "I am tired of your stalling! Prepare to die."

He brandished his spear, and just as he was going to jump to her and deliver the killing strike, she held up her hand, glowing once again with a blue light.

"Oh come now!" Xaldin scolded harshly. "Didn't we already establish that your magic won't work on me?"

"Who said I was going to cast it on you?" She replied solemnly, an evil smile. "This is my absolute last resort! I won't die to a _thing_ like you! I still have too much to do! I must punish those with wicked hearts!"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" He scoffed. "You're heart is every bit as wicked as those that you punish! You just use that as an excuse to validate your actions!"

"Maybe so…" She stated coldly. She placed her hand over her heart. "But I'm not ready to die yet! And once this spell is cast, there is no going back! Not only will I kill you, but I'll kill everyone in this miserable castle as well!"

And with that, another shot rang out, like thunder in the air. The enchantress fell to her knees, grunting and gasping in pain. Her face broke out into a cold sweat as the color drained from her face. She clawed at the, creating deep gashes in it. And before Xaldin's eyes, she started to change. She slowly grew several stories in height, bursting her out of her clothing. As her height escalated, her skin, which appeared to have been soft and supple, turned into dense, hard scales, hands to claws, and teeth to fangs. Wings sprouted from her back as her face took on a more reptilian appearance. Her neck extended several stories as horns started protruding out of her head. She gave a loud roar into the air as her transformation from damsel to dragon completed. She then looked down at Xaldin, who appeared to be unimpressed.

"Well? What do you think?" She asked sarcastically in a raspy, cracking voice. It was obvious that she was struggling to speak coherently. "Aren't I beautiful?"

"You and I have differing opinions of beauty!" Xaldin remarked. _Although, even in this state, she is still more attractive than that __trolip__Larxene_"

Well it's your fault!" She roared. "It's because of you that I'm like this! If you'd only let me go, I wouldn't be trapped in this state forever!"

"I see no reason why I am to blame." Xaldin replied, still brandishing his blade. "You came to this world. You decided to administer this little test. You cast the spell. Any misfortune of yours, you brought upon yourself."

"Perhaps…" The dragon snickered darkly and then she lunged towards The Whirlwind Lancer. **"BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T TAKE MY FRUSTRATION OUT ON YOU AND YOURS!!"**

She opened her maw and enveloped Xaldin, swallowing him whole, along with much of the stone that he was standing on. She removed her head from the ground, stone crumbs falling out of her mouth as she looked on to the rest of the castle.

"Typical." She stammered as she chewed stone. "Just like all men I've been with. Not satisfactory in the least and not at all filling. I guess I could have at least done him the kindness of learning his name, though."

"I don't like giving my name out to those I kill." Xaldin's voice reverberated inside of her being. "And you remind me of someone as well. Your table manners are every bit as hers."

Before the dragon could even think, six spears pierced her neck from the inside, piercing the thick dragon skin hide of hers, one on each opposing side, creating a circle around her neck.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to leave. This is not at all pleasant."

Then each of the six spears started to thrust forward, cutting her flesh with ease, invoking wind to come in and blowing her head off, decapitating the dragon instantly. Xaldin appeared where the head blew off, covered in blood. He floated down silently as opposed to the loud booms made by the head and the body. He lands a short distance away and smells his sleeve.

"Now look and what happened!" "You ruined my favorite coat! Dragons blood never comes out!"

He removes his stained cloak and walked towards the corpse. He pulls out a handkerchief and drops it on its nose.

"You're a mess dear." Xaldin chided with a sneer. "Clean yourself up."

He continued on to the main body, stopping just in front of its chest. He placed his hand on its breast, and pushed in. a dark portal opened up, and his hand reached into it, pulling out a large Heart shaped object, pulsating with a dull pinkish light.

"Ah, yes..." Xaldin chuckled, basking in its glow. "I knew you had a strong heart."

He turned back towards the dragon head, stopped and looked at it.

"You should consider this an honor." He said mockingly. "You are to be a part of something grand. And you won't be alone either. I'll be sure to send this Beast prince along to keep you company."

He raised his unoccupied hand into the air, and gave a loud snap, the sound reverberating in every direction. Almost immediately, a horde of Dusks, Creepers, and Dragoons appeared, crawling all over the place.

"I want this entire area cleaned and repaired. Not a speck of blood is to be found, do you understand? And be sure to get rid of that carcass before the stink sets in."

He handed the jacket to one of his Dragoons.

"Get rid of it. It's ruined now." He ordered coldly. He then held up the Heart, and spoke again, this time to himself. "I've got to get cleaned up and deliver this to Kingdom Hearts. Hopefully, I'll run into Xemnas and we can have a little 'chat' as to why he is keeping secrets."

He turned towards the entrance and hurries inside with his package, leaving the Nobodies to their task.

Chapter 14: Side Stepped Side Story #III Pt 1: Back at the castle: End


	18. Chapter 15

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 15: Side Stepped Side Story #III Pt 2: 1 – 7 – 14

Hours prior to the Enchantress's fateful encounter, silence fills the hallways of the Castle. Every so often, a Dusk slinks through the blinding white stone passage ways, patrolling the castle for any sign of intrusion. The silence is deadening; even the slightest sound would have reverberated throughout the castle section, as there are areas of the castle that are cut off from the main passages, to keep intruders and any 'guests' from accessing the more vital areas of the castle.

One such area is the living quarters of the structures occupants, the secretive Organization XII. They call it the _**Stair way into the Void**_. On most days, this winding stair way, reaching several stories both up and down the castle, leading to a door mark with roman numerals from to twelve, one at the top of the stair case, twelve at the bottom with another door leading into other various parts of the castle, would be barren of life. Not uncommon, since it is rare for members to spend more than a full day here in between lengthily absences, going about their business of forwarding the Organization's agendas. This is especially true since many of the members had been relocated to the Ruins of Oblivion. This day, however, was unlike most days.

At the bottom of the stair case, the sounds of construction rang out. Stairs reaching down from number twelve's door reached deep down several stories. Large club wielding Nobodies hammered into the stone, carving out a new floor as smaller Nobodies laid out the stair case. As they worked, there was a door tucked away to the side. On that door, there was a number engraved:

XIII

High up the stair way, where the sounds of the toiling creatures can't even be heard, another sound, far more subtle, far more silent, can be heard. The door resting at the very top of the stair case ajar, the number I engraved upon it, the sound of a pen scratching on paper can be heard. Inside, the king of the Nothingness sits at his desk, his pen racing across a piece of paper. Sitting next to a large room length window overseeing his kingdom, an altar can be seen in the distance, coming to an end in front of a heart shaped star. His room tidy, his large bed and dresser in the opposing corners of the room meticulously kept. The closet next to his bed has several coats hung neatly without a wrinkle in place, all resembling the one he currently wears, but made up of several different fabrics and materials. He glares at the sheet of paper, which doesn't look as white when compared to the desk. On it, he writes:

Xoras

Sorax

Rasox

Soxar

Raxos

Again and again, he writes strange words and phrases, their meaning lost on everyone but him. Without pause for thought he writes, trying to decipher some secret meaning.

He is interrupted though, by the sound of footsteps clicking across the marble floor. Xemnas quickly crumpled up the paper and discarded it into a nearby waste basket. Moments later, another person wearing the same attire as Xemnas stormed in, holding a large stack of bounded documents, neatly organized with colored covers and note tabs marking specific pages. The Stack was so big it blocked the view to his face. He stood across from Xemnas, held the stack right above the center of the table and let it drop, a loud bang against the table.

"Saix, didn't I ask for the abbreviated version of Vexen and Zexion's research notes?" Xemnas asked, peaking around the stack at member number VII. Saix had long light blue hair with split ends coming out in every direction. An x shaped scar had formed between his eyes and across the bridge of his nose. His scowl, which was a usual site on his head, was even more pronounced than usual, as his right eye and left upper lip twitched angrily.

"This **is** the abbreviated version." He snarled quietly. He snapped the twine that was holding the stack together. "Or to be more precise, Volume one of Vexen's abbreviated research notes. I'm not even half way done with sorting out **his** crap, and I still have Zexion to do."

"Oh. I guess there was more to their studies than I had anticipated." Xemnas stated as he stared at the large bundle in front of him.

"Just look at this crap! How could that idiot consider any of this 'research' relevant?" He said loudly, picking up each of the large bound files, glancing at them briefly before tossing them aside, He read the names as he glanced over the covers before dismissing them, growing more and more irritated with the strange topics that he was forced to categorize and summarize, growing more and more annoyed with each one. "'Cloning for not so Dumb People, Nobody Knows a Nobody like a Nobody, How to make the Perfect Ice Cream Cone, A THOUSAND WAYS TO CLIP YOUR TOE NAILS?!?!'"

_Wait, what?_ Xemnas thought with a raised eyebrow as Saix continued naming off the documents, his field of vision now unimpaired by the documents. _Just what the hell was Vexen studying?!?_

"And here's the worst of them!" Saix snarled, picking up the final file, flipping through it briefly. "**Dark Humans:** Human of Darkness or Incomplete Heartless. What a fairy tale! How completely and utterly worthless, wasting time on this shit!"

_How is that worth less than 'A Thousand ways to clip your Toe Nails?'_ The Superior thought, still with a raised eyebrow as Saix discards the last of them to the side.

"Honestly." Saix said with a sigh, rubbing his right temple. "You don't pay me to do brainwork like this!"

"I don't **pay** you at all!" Xemnas retorted, not missing a beat. "And even if I did, I wouldn't be paying you to complain either."

Saix sighed and pulled up one of the spare chairs, taking a seat.

"Isn't there anyone else who can do this?" Saix asked. "What about Luxord or Demyx? Those two usually have nothing to do."

"To bad this isn't one of those times." Xemnas replied pulling out his notebook, flipping through the pages. "Matters have arisen that require their talents."

"That figures." The lunar Diviner groaned. "The moment I find something for them to do, they're already busy!"

"How about this…" Xemnas drawled, stopping on a certain page, and running his finger down it, stopping it somewhere in the middle. "There's a gap in Xaldin's schedule for a few days. How about he takes over and finishes off Vexen's research notes and work Zexion's as well?"

"That's fine…" He replied, relieved that he won't have to continue figuring out Vexen's geek speak. "But now I don't have anything to do. Perhaps if you let me supervise recruitment again…"

"Not going to happen." Xemnas said, dismissing Saix's bid, reaching under his desk and pulling out an apple, the last item in his mini fridge, from it. "I've got to get this thing restocked. Anyways, I have an interest in Number XIII, and I'll be damned if he slips through my fingers."

"What's the matter? Don't trust me?" Saix said with a smirk. "Don't think I'm capable of bringing him in?"

"That's not it." Xemnas replied solemnly, he generated a little beam saber with his free hand and began peeling the apple. "It's just that the Organization has a lot riding on that boy. With him by our side, the project is more than just a mere pipe dream. I will not allow any room for error. Apple?"

"No thanks." Saix said, resting his head on his fist. "Those do to me what Hamburger specials do to you."

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" Xemnas inquired, rather annoyed.

"Why should I?" No VII replied with a grin on his face. Xemnas rolled his eyes with a sigh before continuing on. "And that's not what you told me earlier. I believe you said _**'I reserve the right to induct the young one into the Organization myself.'**__"_

"Really? I don't recall." Xemnas replied coyly

"Oh, come of it." Saix huffed. "You just love to wax poetic."

"Anyways…" Xemnas drawled, moving the discussion forward. "With me supervising the Twilight Town mission, there won't be any acts of foolishness by curious members."

"I still say you should have let me be the one **reprimand** him." Saix grunted, gritting his teeth. He took his fist and punched the palm of his opposing hand. "The nerve that little pit stain has, impersonating me like that!"

"Settle down." Xemnas advised. He had finished peeling the apple and discarded the skin, and continued on, cutting the apple in half. "I already punished him in a way far worse than anything you could ever think of."

"I still feel like I should smear that little creep all over Castle Oblivion's walls."

"You do that and all the time we spent rebuilding that castle will be wasted." The Superior said sternly, pointing his finger at the enraged Saix. "I trust you, but you have a tendency to get carried away, and if I let you get in your own personal gratification, everything that we have invested into Castle Oblivion will mean nothing. In fact, I wouldn't put it past you to destroy the supports to it, bringing the castle down around Zexion's ears."

"Yeah…" Saix chuckled with a satisfied smile, the image of Castle Oblivion imploding from its own weight on top of Zexion flashing through his mind. "That does sound like something I would do."

"Exactly." Xemnas replied. By this time, he had retrieved a plate and placed one of the apple halves on it, carving out the core of the other. "Do not worry about Zexion. He won't be disobeying me again."

"I'll take your word for it." Saix replied with a smirk. But it quickly faded, and a grave gaze had formed in its place. "But while we are on the subject of Castle Oblivion, there is something else I want to talk about."

"Let me guess…" Xemnas droned with a sigh, massaging his forehead. "Marluxia, am I right?"

"I don't trust him. You give him to must leeway." Saix stated, getting down to business.

"I don't trust him either. " He replied with a sigh. "But we were in need of fighters during the time we recruited him. Thanks to him, many of our problems were taking care of."

"But still, giving him Castle Oblivion? It's too risky."

"It's the only way I could have shut him up. He had been badgering about it for months!"

**"You gave him a base to plot against you!"**

**"WHAT I GAVE HIM IS ENOUGH ROPE TO HANG HIMSELF WITH!"**

Both of the two now on their feet, glaring at each other, hands on the desk. Xemnas sighed, and his sharp, stern face went soft.

"Would you relax already?" He asked, returning his seat and finished coring the apple. "Do you actually think I'd leave him alone and not cover all the bases? Even if he were to try anything, all it'd lead to is his eventual demise."

"Well, if you say so." Saix replied, still unsure of the situation.

"Trust me I'm not leaving anything to chance." He said with certainty. He took his apple, and brought it to his mouth. But just as he was about to take a bite, a dagger flew out of nowhere, impaling itself into the piece of fruit between his fingers, and piercing the entirety. He stared at it, not moving an inch. Just then, a woman's voice rang out into the room, giggling. Saix turned around quickly as Xemnas looked up, discarding the apple and the dagger impaled in it. They saw a young woman, wearing the same Organization uniform as they, sitting on a dresser. She had the hood on, so they couldn't see her entire face, but they were able to make out her mouth, nose, and chin.

"That was pretty sloppy of you, mister castle lord!" She teased playfully, a note of glee in her voice. "Dropping your guard like that!"

**"GIRL…"** Saix seethed with anger, glaring at her. He looked as if he were ready to level the entire building. **"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE!?! I'VE KILLED PEOPLE FOR LESS!"**

"Saix, stand down!" Xemnas demanded. He deposited the remaining apple into the waste basket, having lost his appetite. _I didn't even sense her enter the room. There is more to this Nobody than I thought when I found her three days ago._

"I must say, that was quite impressive, sneaking into this room undetected." Xemnas said softly, rising from his chair and walked towards the girl.

"Thank you my lord!" the darkly clad girl giggled, lifting the sides of the coat in a curtsy, more out of playfulness than any actual show of manners. "I aim to please!"

"Well, if you wanted to please me…" Xemnas said with a chuckle and a grin. He brought his right hand around his left shoulder and threw it towards the window, the girl, by no willful means, followed suit and unwillingly flew out the window, shattering it into pieces. Before she could follow the glass down, Xemnas retracted his arm and threw it towards the opposing wall, the girl following suite. She slammed hard against the wall hard, and Xemnas slowly approached her. "You wouldn't have disobeyed me. You are a Nobody, and I have power over all. My word is law here. I told you to stay in your room and hidden from the other members until Saix or myself came and get you. Why did you disobey my command?"

"I was bored…" She stammered, unable to move an inch. She felt as if gravity were pushing her entire body towards the wall. "So I thought I'd take a look see around the castle. Sorry…"

"YOU WERE BORED?!?" An exasperated Xemnas repeated. He relaxed his hand and used it to rub his eyes in annoyance. The woman dropped down to the floor and recovered quickly as Xemnas returned to his chair, this being his turn to rub his temple.

"So, what are you boys talking about?" She chirped, seemingly unfazed by her endeavor.

"Nothing that concerns you number Fourteen!" Saix said loudly, towering over the girl. He lunged to grab the woman's arm, but she dodged expertly, leap frogging over the large man's head and shoulders, and landing on the other side.

"Would you stop calling me that?" She pouted with her arms crossed. "I have a name you know!"

"Well maybe if you told us your name, we would use it." Xemnas interjected.

"I'll tell you when you make me a member." She replied coyly.

"Then you're just going to have to bear it for a while." He remarked.

"BUT WHY??" She complained in a huff. "I want to start taking ass and kicking names now!"

The two elder Nobodies heard this and groaned with a shudder.

"What?"She asked.

"We make it a point never to recruit more than one person at a time." Saix answered. "We're currently in the middle of recruiting someone else."

"Oh, so that's why you've been calling me '**fourteen!'**" She exclaimed, unaware that there was actually a thirteenth member. "So where is he?"

"Like I said…" Saix grunted, rubbing his scar, pulsating from annoyance. "We are currently in the midst of recruiting him."

"But why do I have to wait for him to be inducted first?" She complained, not happy with the situation. "I mean, he isn't even here yet!"

"That is the way we have always operated, fourteen." Xemnas dictated with authority. "Besides, he is expected to be a vital member of the Organization, far more important than you. We'll take as long as we need to recruit him, so just wait your turn."

"HUMPH!" Fourteen pouted with crossed arms. Xemnas sighed, seeing that this girl will be trouble if she isn't entertained.

"How about this…" Xemnas said calmly. "If you promise to behave yourself, Saix here will give you a tour of the entire castle. How does that sound?

**"WHAT??"** Saix hollered in an angry disbelief.

**"Really?"** Fourteen squealed happily with a clap of her hands. "Do you mean it?"

Xemnas nodded, and she jumped up and down with joy.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" She hollered. She ran out of the room and yelled "Let's get started right now!"

As she exited, Saix looked pleadingly at Xemnas, as if to ask 'do I really have to?'

"Have fun on your tour!" Xemnas said as he nodded and waved him off.

"Piss off, ya Jackass!" A dejected Saix said as he left the room, following the young Nobody. The elder Nobody couldn't help but chuckle as Saix's plight. As soon as their footsteps had faded, he took out another piece of paper and felt pen out of his drawer, and in big, bold letters, he wrote:

R-O-X-A-S

He looked at the paper for a minute, and a smile crept onto his face.

"Yes…" He whispered to himself. "That shall work splendidly."

He stood up from his chair, and walk towards the window. The wind blowing through his hair and caressing his face, the tail of his coat flapping in the breeze, he stared at the altar off in the distance, as well as the heart shaped star above it.

"Soon…" he muttered to himself. "Soon you shall be complete, my Kingdom Hearts!"

Chapter 15: Side Stepped Side Story #III Pt 2: 1 – 7 – 14: End.


	19. Chapter 16

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 16: Side Stepped Side Story #III Pt 3: What's your proof?

**"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?"** Fourteen Shrieked. It had been hours since the start of the tour of the castle, Saix hurrying her from one section to another, making it as short and as painless, for himself at least, as possible, which wasn't easy to do with a structure so large. They had visited the training rooms, the living areas, the public laboratories and libraries, and the throne room. They were finishing up their tour with walking through the main corridor that goes from the entrance of the castle to the **Altar of Naught.** They were just approaching their last stop, when a loud roar rang out, shaking the castle slightly. It was immediately followed a loud booming sound, and then something that sounded like a balloon popping.

"It was nothing that concerns you." Saix answered, looking at a passing Dusk. "It's just someone knocking on the front door. Xaldin took care of it."

"Who's Xaldin?" Fourteen asked.

"He is one of the more tolerable members of the organization. Now move. I want to end this unpleasant experience as soon as possible." Saix ushered her quickly into the next room, not giving her a chance to ask questions. He pushed her into a room with thirteen portals, each one shaped like a pedestal. The first one is at the head of the room while the rest were arranged neatly in rows. One immediately caught her eye, in that it was different from the others, but she couldn't tell why. She walked to the pedestal at the end of the lowest row on the right side, and instantly noticed why.

"This one is blank." She stated in observation as she kneeled down to get a better look. She eyed it intently to see if there was anything on it at all, but couldn't see anything. It was completely, utterly, blank. She looked up at Saix, who came to rest, leaning against the wall. "Why is this one blank?"

"That one was put in only recently." Saix replied. "It's for our newest member."

"Aw, ya all shouldn't have!" She said rather sheepishly.

"Who said it was for you?" Saix snarled. "We already told you that we are in the middle of recruiting someone else!"

"Oh yeah…" She replied with a sigh, sounding rather disappointed. She stood up and Saix approached.

"While we are on that matter…" Saix said with suspicion. "Where did you get that? I don't recall you being assigned a coat yet."

"This?" she asked, moving her hands from the top of her attire down, indicating if Saix was asking about her garb. "I swiped it from some chick's room. She has lots of pictures of herself everywhere. Very narcissistic if you ask me."

"YOU SWIPED--" Saix stopped himself, not wanting to go into what could be a potential headache, he rubbed his scar to calm himself. _I thought that dagger looked familiar. Larxene that Bitch! Keeping her weapons in her pocket is asking for trouble!_

"It doesn't matter. She has so many, I doubt she'll miss one. How does it fit?"Saix grunted.

"It's a little tight in the chest. It's a little difficult to breath in it."

"What about the waist?"

"Room to spare." She answered, flapping the access coat material around with her hands, revealing unneeded space in her clothes.

_Larxene would kill you if she heard that._ Saix thought with a smirk.

"Do you really have to wear that hood up inside the castle?" Saix asked.

"But it makes me feel sneaky!" She squealed.

"Whatever…." Saix said with a groan.

"So, mister tour guide…" Fourteen chimed, enjoying being able to push Saix's buttons so easily. "Where are we?"

"This is the **Proof of Existence!**" Saix exclaimed in explanation. "This is our proof that we of the Organization have existed. "If one of the Organization were to fall and cease to exist, then these pedestals are our testament to the worlds that once upon a time, we were here. They would become our gravestones."

Saix walks up to his and places his hand on it. A look of profoundness crept across his face.

"Upon joining, we etch our weapons and title into the stonework, and charge it with our energy, and it turns into a portal to our personal sanctum. A place to call our own, to be alone."

"Wow…" Fourteen muttered in wonderment. "That is deep. I never knew."

While Saix is lost in thought, she starts looking at the various titles of the other members.

"The Flurry of Dancing Flames, the Graceful Assassin, the Savage Nymph…" She approached Saix and his tablet. "What does yours say?"

She peeked between Saix and his tablet, and read his title.

"The Lunar Diviner? Classy." She chirped.

"Yes, well…" Saix said with a smirk. "I am a class act."

"What's your weapon?" She asked, pointing at the picture at the pedestals base. "Looks like a spiked club.

"It's a called a **Claymore!**" Saix grunted with a scowl. "It's a type of sword."

"Really?" She asked in confusion. "It looks like a club. Are you sure?"

"Listen you…" Saix snarled, his anger with the woman reaching its breaking point. Just then though, footsteps could be heard, rapidly approaching towards them. _Shit! Someone's coming!_

"Stay inside." Saix ordered as he grabbed her by the nape of the neck, and before she could protest, forced her into his portal. He turned around and ran in front of the thirteenth pedestal. Xaldin walked into the room only moments later.

"Good Evening Saix." Xaldin said in greeting as he walked in. "By chance, have you seen Xemnas?"

"Last I saw him, he was in his room." Saix grunted, playing the cool customer.

"It's just about 7 o clock." Xaldin stated, checking his watch. "He's probably at the **Altar of Naught,** staring at Kingdom Hearts."

"Probably..." Saix grunted in reply.

"What are you doing in here anyways?" Xaldin asked out of curiosity. It was a weird room to spend one's free time in.

"Whatever I damn well please!" Saix barked harshly, in an effort to put Xaldin off. Xaldin stared at Saix for a moment, and then continued to the main pedestal.

"Weirdo." Xaldin grunted before he vanished into the portal. Saix gave a sigh of relief and relaxed himself.

"Now to get that girl out before she messes up my room." Saix said to himself and headed towards his portal. He stopped at the pedestal labeled 'The Cloaked Schemer' and stared at it for a moment. He looked around to check if he was alone, and a big, menacing smile appeared on his face.

---

"I don't care what you say! That was rude!" Fourteen complained as she exited the portal.

"You're not even supposed to out and about the castle!" Saix retorted. "You weren't allowed to be seen by anyone yet!"

"Whatever!" She huffed. She looked around the room quickly, and spotted another Pedestal that was different than the others. It was cracked and broken, while the others were in perfect shape. "Was that one always like that?"

"Yes." Saix said gleefully with a large, satisfied grin.

"Are you sure?" She asked again. She was certain that when she came into the room, all the pedestals were in perfect condition.

"Each member is in charge of the taking care of their own tablet. If one has fallen into disrepair, it is the fault of the member." Saix stated. "Trust me, that pedestal was like that when we came in."

"If you say so…" She said staring at the tablet. She brought a black rose to her nose and smelled it daintily. A black rose that, Saix noticed, wasn't in her possession before she had entered his chamber.

"Where did you get that?" He demanded loudly as he pointed at the plant, his suspicion raised by the mysterious flower.

"This?" Fourteen asked, holding the rose by its stem. "I found it in a vase on the railing next to the window. I must admit, I never pegged you for having a thing for plants."

"I don't." He stated calmly and coldly. He yanked the rose out of the girl's hand and eyed it, scrutinizing every petal, leaf and thorn. _What is that fool planning? I don't care what Lord Xemnas says, I am weeding out that trouble maker before he ruins the whole garden!_

"This tour is over." He stated, grabbing fourteen by the arm and pulling her towards the exit. "You are to return to your room and wait there until Xemnas or I say otherwise. This is **not** open for discussion."

"What's with you?" She inquired, not really struggling against him pulling her along. "You're acting weirder than usual ever since you saw that flower!"

"It's not a flower." Saix grunted, glancing over his shoulder at the girl. "It's an invitation."

"An invitation? To what exactly?"

Saix stopped for a moment, and gave some thought as to how he would answer her question. He turned around, and locked his eyes with hers, and stated quite simply:

"Rebellion."

Chapter 16: Side Stepped Side Story #III Pt 3: What's your proof: End.


	20. Chapter 17

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 17: Side Stepped Side Story #III Pt 4: Upon the Altar.

At the **Altar of Naught,** the highest point of The Castle That Never Was, Xemnas stands by himself, starring at a large, heart shaped ball of energy, about the size of a beach ball. It pulsates, like the beating of a heart. Each beat releases a wave of energy from it's being, caressing the Superior with soothing warmth as he basked in its radiance. He gazed into its glow as it illuminated the area surrounding the altar with a pale red light, losing himself in its hypnotic beauty. Suddenly, another, smaller heart flew over his shoulder and into the larger one, making it release a slightly stronger pulse of energy as they merged, pushing slightly against Xemnas's being.

"That was a nice one…" Xemnas commended as he looked over his shoulder to notice Xaldin standing behind him. "Where did you get it?"

"From someone knocking on the front door, offering a charitable donation." Xaldin remarked with a smirk as he approached the Superior, stopping a few feet behind him. Xemnas chuckled at this slightly.

"It's a pity that everyone can only donate once." He jeered. "It is truly unfortunate. How did your mission go?"

"It was a crap shoot." Xaldin snarled, unhappy with earlier events. "Just as I expected it would be. It was a total waste of time."

"That's a shame…" Xemnas said solemnly. Xaldin crept a little closer to the superior, intent on forcing him into discussing certain matters that have plagued him over the last couple of hours.

"There is something that I did find rather enlightening..." Xaldin mentioned, taking an unusual slightly indirect approach to the subject matter, contrary to his usual straight forward nature. "I had an interesting little 'chat' in Traverse Town."

"Ah! That reminds me…" Xemnas gasped in realization. "You still have it don't you, the memory card with Xigbar's findings on it? Hand it over."

"WHA-WHA-WHAT??" Xaldin stammered, double taking to Xemnas's question, which shattered his entire argument. **"HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT???"**

"Simple." Xemnas stated. "I sent him there to do it. With his space warping abilities, he can scan beings and collect data on levels that we can't even imagine."

"You _sent_ him there?" An exasperated Xaldin asked, feeling like he had been the center of a bad joke. "But that means you told him about the thirteenth member!!"

"Yes…" Xaldin drawled with a sigh and a roll of his eyes, already seeing where this might be going. "Yes it does. What about it?"

**"Don't act casual about this!!"** Xaldin barked, angered by the fact that Xigbar was in the know and he wasn't. **"Why**** keep such a matter a secret****? Why would you tell him and not me or the others?"**

"Simple." Xemnas stated with crossed arms. "You didn't ask, but he did."

"Wh-Wha?"

"He asked me if we were getting a new member. I answered 'yes,' and then sent him to Traverse Town to get information on the Keyblade wielder. He then sent me a messenger saying that he sent the memory stick with you. Now, do you have it or not?"

It was true that Xaldin still had the memory card in his handheld, since he had forgotten to hand it back to Xigbar. He retrieved his handheld from his pocket, undamaged from his earlier encounter, and removed it from the slot, handing it to Xemnas, who in turn pulled out his own handheld, and inserted it in, taking a quick glance at the information to check if everything was in order before replacing it in his pocket.

"I swear, I'm gonna KILL that bastard!!" an anger Xaldin snarled, clenching his fist. "Damn that Xigbar, playing me for the fool!"

"Xigbar only does it to get under your skin." Xemnas told the Whirlwind Lancer. "Plus, you've always been just a bit gullible."

"WHAT!?!" Xaldin raged.

Xemnas chuckled slightly. He enjoyed pushing Xaldin's buttons almost as much as Xigbar.

"Don't worry about a thing." Xemnas assured him. "Xigbar nor the thirteenth member are of any concern to you at the moment. I do, however, have an assignment for you."

"What is it?" Xaldin sighed, not really in the mood to be working.

"I need you to summarize the research notes of Vexen and Zexion. Saix already got it started for you."

"Ugh, this is gonna be unpleasant." Xaldin muttered with a scow. "But it'd be safer for me to do it than for Saix to pop a blood vessel and level half the castle again."

"Good man." Xemnas said with a chuckle. "Get started right away."

"Alright…" Xaldin sighed as he turned on his heel. "But I expect to be told everything from now on! Do you understand me?"

"Clear as crystal, my friend." Xemnas replied, humoring the Nobody. Xaldin descended the stairs and back into the castle without even a goodbye. With a smile, Xemnas turned back towards the heart shaped object. His smile quickly faded as he gazed upon the pulsating heart with intent and desire.

"Axel…" he said coldly, anger in his eyes. "You had better not fail me."

**-------------**

**"AH-CHOO!"** Axel sneezed as he sat at a café table in Mall Street, eating his lunch. He had been watching the Struggle match from a far, and now looked on as the two younger people parted ways with their elder friend. He was still wearing his aviators and the bandanna.

"That came out of nowhere." He said, rather surprised by his unexpected sneeze. "Some cute chick must be talking about me!"

As he finished lunch, he watched the rookie get pulled by his friend into a nearby ice-cream parlor, which he watched until they left.

Chapter 17: Side Stepped Side Story #III Pt 4: Upon the Altar: End.


	21. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The Return of the Blue Wind.

It was fifteen minutes after parting ways With Ms. Rinoa Heartily, and true to his word, Buddy bought Olette a cone of Sea Salt Ice Cream, as well as one for himself, at the urging of Olette. The total was about 610 munny, 300 per cone, and 10 munny for the orange sprinkles Olette got for her cone. The two of them sat on the couch in front of the window, Olette licking away happily on hers, and Buddy eying his suspiciously, unsure of what to make of the odd ice cream cone.

"Aren't you going to eat yours?" Olette asked in between licks. "It's going to melt."

"It looks funny." The youth observed, continuing to cast suspicion upon the cone. "Is it supposed to be this shade of blue?"

"Oh you're just paranoid." Olette dismissed. She leaned over and took a long lick of her cone. "See? I'm eating the same type of ice cream from the same container, and I'm doing fine!"

"I don't know…"

"Oh, come on!" Olette urged him on, giving him a slight playful nudge with her shoulder. "The first taste of Sea Salt Ice Cream never hurts anybody!"

Still unsure, Buddy closed his eyes and took a lick of the ice cream cone. His eye flew open in amazement to the cone's amazing taste. It was an indescribable concoction of sweet and salty flavors mixed together, creating the ultimate balance between the two opposing tastes.

"Well?" Olette asked inquisitively, an assured smile on her face. "How does it taste?"

"It's like I'm slurping on an angel!!" Buddy replied excitedly, Causing Olette to give a snort of stifled laughter at the rather unusual remark.

"Well, nobody has put it quite like **THAT** before!" She replied as she clutched her side, still trying not to laugh at the boy. "And like I said, the **first** taste never hurts anybody, but the second one, people usually regret, so just be careful not to bite into--"

But her warning was too late, as Buddy had taken a big chomp out of the ice cream ball in his exuberance, wanting more of that amazing taste.

**"B-B-B-B-BRAIN FREEZE!!!"** The Youth hollered, clutching his head as his mind started to feel like a thousand ice sickles were prodding the inside of his cranium.

"I tried to warn you…" Olette lilted in an 'I told you so' kind of tone. "That's the problem with Sea Salt Ice Cream. The first taste of it is so good, most people tend to overdo the second one and end up regretting it for a while…"

All Buddy could do was wait until the pain subsided as he listened to Olette lecture him. Once it was gone, he noticed that the entire parlor was looking at him suspiciously.

"Why is everybody staring at me?" He asked, rather nervous being the center of attention again.

"Oh…" Olette stood up and spoke loudly so that the entire parlor could hear her. "IT'S HIS FIRST SEA SALT ICE CREAM CONE!"

The moment they heard that, laughter rang out into the parlor, followed by everyone saying "OF COURSE!" in unison and everyone returned to their own business. Buddy looked at Olette, quite puzzled as to what happened.

"Sea Salt Ice Cream. It's _that_ good!" She chuckled with a wink as she rested her hand on her fist and resumed eating her ice cream. Buddy, now red with embarrassment, returned to eating his own cone in silence.

Five minutes later, the two had finished their ice cream and hurried out of the store, this time at Buddy's urging. Once out, Olette resumed leadership and pulled Buddy into a store that sold designer jackets. Twenty minutes after entering the store, Buddy had found himself trying on six different jackets, all picked out by Olette, modeling each one in a full length mirror.

"I don't know…" Buddy muttered as he stood in front of his reflection wearing a black short sleeved jacket. "What do you think Olette?"

But No reply was given.

"Olette?" Buddy called out again, removing the jacket while he looked about the store, unable to spot his companion. He spotted the attendant that was assisting them earlier and approached her. "Did you happen to see where the girl I was with go off to?"

"I believe she went into the back." The woman replied, pointing to a door in the back left hand corner of the store.

"Okay, thank you." Buddy said, and quickly turned on his heel towards the back of the store.

"But that's the—" The attendant tried to say in warning, but to no avail, as he hurried off in search of his compatriot. Entering the back of the store, he saw that the room here was divided up into many small cubicles. He approached the first one, and pushed it open.

"Hey Olette!! Why did you ditch me?" He said absentmindedly as he opened the door. But before he could get a look at the surroundings, he heard a familiar scream, followed by a sharp, blinding pain on his face caused by some sort of blunt object, and then everything went dark as he fell unconscious. When he came to, Olette was standing over him, rubbing her forehead in embarrassment. With her were the attendant and a girl with a cold, piercing gaze directed at Buddy. She looked to be about Olette's age. "What just happened?"

"You entered the dressing room area in your rush to find your friend." The attendant answered. She gestured to the othergirl who was with them. She had short silver-blue hair with bangs draped over her left eye. She was wearing a light blue backless zip-up vest with a collar, form fitting, low cut jeans, a pair of blue high heeled sandals, similar to Olette's, as well as having her own blue hand bag, but with longer straps, as it was draped over her left shoulder and rested on her right hip. Buddy recognized her from earlier that day, right before he entered the strange antique store, only her attire had changed completely from then. "You walked in on this young woman while she was changing, which is when she punched you right in the kisser. After that, you folded like a cheap lawn chair."

"Oh, thank you…" Buddy murmured under his breath, not so much angry with what the attendant's statement may have indicated, but embarrassed that it happened exactly as she said. He eyed the other girl slightly, wondering if she remembers their brief encounter with each other. After that, he turned his attention to Olette, who still had her hand rubbing her forehead out of embarrassment; eyes closed as she grinded her teeth slightly.

"I don't even want to know." Olette said coldly. It was obvious that she wasn't happy.

"Hey, all I was doing was looking for you." Buddy said, defending himself from Olette's accusations, not too pleased himself with the current misunderstanding, as well as Olette's disappearance. "You up and disappeared on me! Would it kill you to let people know where you are going once in a while?"

"Don't change the subject!" Olette barked! "What makes you think that you can just barge in on somebody in a changing room?!? That very easily could have been me in there, or maybe Ms. Heartily!!"

"If this doesn't convince that tight-wad of a manager to fix those locks, nothing will…" The attendant said rather loudly, with the intention of being over heard as she left, saving the blond haired youth from Olette's wrath with the simplest of explanation.

"Broken locks…" Olette drawled with a sigh as she rubbed her forehead again, still rather annoyed. She didn't accept it, seeing as it had no indication of what Buddy's motive might be, but it did calm her down slightly, making her a bit more reasonable She gave Buddy her coldest, sternest glare she could muster, and spoke with as much authority a fourteen year old girl wearing a sun dress could. "Did you actually come in to find me and not sneak any peaks? Be honest now!"

"That's the simple truth." Buddy answered calmly with a sigh, his arms crossed.

"Fine…" Olette said, giving a sigh of her own. "Then I apologize for not telling you where I went."

"No problem. Just be sure to let people know where you run off to, okay?" Buddy said, glad that this confrontation came to a rather quick end.

"Alright…" Olette chuckled slightly. She then continued on with a note of authority in her voice. "But you have to promise to knock from now on whenever you are about to open a dressing room, Deal?"

"Deal." He said with a chuckle and crossed arms. He then once again noticed the girl, still staring at him with a menacing gaze. Buddy stared back, uncomfortable of the girl's cold look. He fidgeted slightly as he tried to read her thoughts from her blank face. Was she angry? Was she upset? Was she offended? Her face gave him no information, just a blank, menacing stare. Just then, her eyes went wide, as if she answered a question that she had been asking herself in silence. She thrust her finger and spoke to him in an astonished voice.

"WHIPPED!!" She said in recognition. Realizing that she had met the boy before earlier that day.

"Do you two know each other?" Olette asked, rather puzzled by their interaction.

"We've only had a brief encounter…" Buddy drawled, his right eye twitching slightly out of frustration to being called 'whipped' again. "Who is she?"

"This is a friend of a friend. Her name is Fuu." Olette answered, introducing her to the lad. She then turned towards Fuu to introduce him to her using the same back story she had used on Rinoa. "Fuu, this is a friend of Hayner's from out of town. His name is Buddy. We were just about to find him a new jacket."

When Fuu, heard this, she immediately ran off, leaving the two of them puzzled. Moments later, she returned, carrying in her arms a piece of clothing.

"HERE." Fuu said rather sternly, shoving the jacket into Buddy's arms.

"What does she want me to do with this?"

"Try it on!" Olette replied. And with the two young women looking on, Buddy put on the jacket. It was white with short sleeves, a checkered pattern across the chest and around each of the shoulders, and it had a hood. The inside of the jacked was lined with a red cotton fabric. Buddy stood in front of the mirror and scrutinized his reflection.

"I like this one." He said, satisfied with this latest selection. "Thanks Fuu!"

"It suits him perfectly!!" Olette chirped excitedly, praising Fuu for her sense of fashion as Buddy went to pay for his new jacket. "We should shop together sometime!"

"EXACTLY." Fuu stated as she hoisted up two large shopping bags and handed them to Buddy immediately as he returned."Uh, what's going on?" Buddy asked.

"I think Fuu will be joining us." Olette said rather innocently.

"That's not what I meant." Buddy stated. "I meant why am I holding her stuff?"

"MOVE, PACK MULE." Fuu demanded rather sharply.

"HUH?" Buddy grunted in exasperation.

"Think of it this way…" Olette said, handing Buddy her own recently acquired purchase. "This will be your way of apologizing for walking in on her and sneaking a peak."

_But I didn't see anything!! She decked me as soon as I walked in!_ He complained to himself, knowing better to keep his thoughts inside his head.

"And why am I carrying your stuff? You aren't the one I walked in on!"

"You honestly don't expect a frail, little girl like me to carry all of that, do you?" She said with a smile. "Let's go!"

She then hurried out the store. Buddy noticed that Fuu was, once again, staring at him. Only this time, her gaze wasn't as sharp as it was earlier.

"Heh Heh Heh…" She chuckled coldly as she walked out the store, joining Olette in the streets, waiting for their new prisoner.

_She had this planned from the very beginning!_ He thought to himself, just now seeing that she had a double motive. Realizing that things could have been worse, he followed the two out the store.

Chapter 18: The Return of the Blue Wind: End.


	22. Chapter 19

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 19: The Fateful Encounter!! Union of Fire and Light!

**"OH ****COME**** ON!!" **Buddy hollered angrily, waving a black and white skateboard with a very chipped deck at the vendor of an outdoor stand, an obvious contrast to the fuming youth, as he was reclined in his seat, his feet propped onto his table, in an area that was clear of the various items that littered his table. **"TWELVE HUNDRED IS WAY TOO HIGH FOR THIS WORN DOWN BOARD!!"**

"The price is twelve hundred munny." The vendor said, opening up a bottle he retrieved from his nearby cooler, taking a sip while maintaining his cool composure, infuriating the boy further. "Take or leave it shrimp."

The trio's latest stop on their trip through the hustle and bustle of Mall Street is a street filled to the brim with outdoor vendors and merchants, peddling their wares of used or homemade merchandise. Here, people can attempt to argue down the price of whatever has caught their eye, Because of this, it is affectionately called _Barter Boulevard_ by the citizens of Twilight Town. They have a saying that with enough skill and patience, which Buddy apparently has none of, one could buy everything they wanted from the street for under a thousand munny. His female cohorts, who were keeping a watchful eye on their own purchases while browsing at a stand of homemade clothing across the street couldn't help but chuckle at the spectacle he was creating while they searched the stand.

"Just look at him go." Olette chuckled with a sigh as she looked up from the selection. "It's hard to believe that only an hour ago he was complaining about shopping. Unbelievable…"

Fuu, also looking up, stared plainly at the boy, as usual her face shows no indication of what was going through her mind. She leaned up to Olette's ear, and quietly whispered something to the brightly clad girl, cupping her hand around ear. Suddenly, Olette covered her mouth, tears welling up slightly in her eyes as she tried to choke down a stomach wrenching fit of laughter.

"NO! We can't do _that_ to the poor guy!!" Olette said with a big grin as she removed her hand from her mouth, still trying to choke down the case of the giggles brought about her friend's mysterious remark. "Be nice Fuu!"

"HMPH!!" The girl clad in blue grunted loudly as if to dismiss Olette's instructions. Suddenly, a shirt caught her eye at the table behind her. She circled around, removing her handbag from her shoulder to get into a more comfortable position to examine the article of clothing. After some thought, she caught the attention of Olette, gesturing her to join her.

"You find something Fuu?" Olette inquired with curiosity as she joined the blue haired youth. She too removed her bag, placing it next to Fuu's and examined the finding. "Oh, I like that one! It's very cute! Let's see if we can find anything that would go with it…"

As they looked to see what could go with what, the two failed to notice that speeding towards them from up the street, an individual clad in black denim sped towards their direction on a bike, weaving his way through the crowds, he spots an opportunity, and in one fell swoop, takes it, snatching up the girl's handbags and sped off to make his escape.

"HEY!!" Fuu called out in anger, turning around to catch a glimpse of the thief.

"MY BAG!!" Olette hollered, instinctively reaching out after him in vain. Their commotion, however, was not. They had caught Buddy's attention, who, after looking towards the girls and then after the thief, instantly pieced together what had happened and acted.

"You twisted my leg!" Buddy snarled, digging into his munny pouch and pulled out 12 hundred munny, slamming it onto the table, startling the vendor, causing him to fall over. "Twelve hundred munny! Enjoy, ya rip off artist!"

With that, he instantly started running towards the culprit, skateboard in hand. Once he got a running start, he jumped into the air, brought his legs up, placed the board under his feet, and slammed onto the ground, quickly rolling after the dark denim wearing individual.

"BUDDY, WAIT—" Olette called after the boy, but she was too late, as he had his mind set on catching the perpetrator, and disappeared from the girls eye sight. He struggled at first, having never ridden a skateboard before, but quickly got the hang of it, dashing, weaving, dodging and grinding his way through the crowded streets, being sure to never lose sight of his opponent. Not a small feat, considering his target, had much more practice on his faster vehicle. The thief however, took a chance and looked behind him, and took note that he was being followed. He chuckled and grinned evilly, rather amused with his pursuer.

"So, there is actually someone who wants to play the hero, eh?" He muttered to himself with a sneer, returning his gaze to the road ahead, his greasy black hair flowing wildly in the wind. "Well, guess this _'hero'_ can show me and the gang a good time. This'll be fun!"

"COME BACK HERE!" Buddy hollered, his own short, blond spiky hair being ruffled by the wind as he desperately tried to keep pace. The chase lasted for ten long minutes, the two weaving their way from Mall Street's busy section to the more warehouse district, a deserted part of town that few people frequent. The thief stopped and deserted his bike in front of an abandoned office building, quickly dashing inside with the bags in tow. Buddy also came to a stop, but didn't enter the building as quickly as his foe, examining the building closely. "It figures, that had to be in a creepy place like this."

The building was five stories tall with the exterior being made of brick and mortar. The trimmings around the door, roof, hand rails, and base looked to be white limestone. The door was in the middle of the front with two windows on each side, and five windows on each floor above that. The black marks around the edges of the windows and on the white limestone were the tell tale signs that there had been a fire some time ago. All the windows were boarded up from the inside, save the ones on the top floor, which showed various bits and pieces of broken wood sticking out.

_He must be up there…_ Buddy thought to himself, examining the top floor. He was about to proceed, but didn't want to leave his new purchase behind. And he figured that he would need both hands, in case something came up. He quickly surveyed the area, and chanced upon a thin rope, about five feet in length. He threaded it through the axels of the wheels, looped one end over his left shoulder and the other under his right, tying the two ends together tightly. Satisfied that his improved carrier would accommodate his immediate needs, he continued inside the building with caution.

The inside of it was pretty much as Buddy expected, it being every bit as run down as the exterior. The walls had huge holes in it, having been gutted by the fire. All the furniture was black and broken, waiting to be cleaned up after the eventual demolition. Cabinets were knocked over, various supplies were lying about, and everything was in disarray. Buddy paid it no mind, however, as he located the stair case in urgency. He looked up into the stairwell, and saw a faint light glowing from the very top of the floor. He slowly started his way up the stairs, on guard for anything that might happen. All of his senses on high alert, he tenses up, just waiting for someone to pop out and attack him. Finally, he reaches the top floor, and sees the door thrown slightly ajar, sunlight peeking through. He gulps nervously, as he opens the door and enters with great caution and care.

The room is dark, except for the light streaming in from the windows, striking the floor and creating a sharp contrast with rest of the room. It was filled with wooden crates and old file cabinets and broken down tables. Seated upon them were people scattered throughout the room, all wearing black clothing, sneering evilly at their intruder. Buddy suddenly heard a loud slam, and didn't need to turn around to know that they just cut off his escape. His body instantly went tense as he eyed the room, locking eyes with everyone there, grinding his teeth as he thinks that he had made a grave mistake. Suddenly, a voice caught his attention.

"About damn time you got here 'hero!'" A scratchy voice said rather angrily, buddy turned towards the windows to see the person that he had been chasing for the last several minutes sitting on a large crate placed under the first window, him sitting on it with a leg resting on top, one hanging off, leaning back on his arm. The handbags that he had pilfered were placed next to him. The light coming from behind him made it difficult for him to see in the darkness of the room. "If you're gonna play the hero, you should at _least_ have the decency to not keep the bad guys waiting!"

"I'm no hero." Buddy replied plainly, holding his forearm in front of him to block out the light of the window as he tried to see the thief. A cloud cover must have rolled in, because the light suddenly dimmed and Buddy was able to see him clearly. "I'm just here to get back what was taken from my friends. Hand them over and I won't have to hurt anybody."

_**"YOU WON'T HURT ANYBODY!?!?"**_ the thief repeated loudly in an astonished and amused tone, now sitting up right with both legs hanging off the crate, leaning forward with wide eyes, starring at the youth. He started laughing hard, and as if they were on cue, the rest of the people there joined in his roar of laughter, filling the room with a patronizing sort of evil laughter. Coming off of his high, the thief leaned forward and looked at him. "Damn, that was funny. It was almost funny enough to let you leave here alive. Almost."

"Hey, I've seen this guy before!" A girl's voice called out from the crowd. "This is the guy that beat Setzer! He has over fifty thousand munny on him!"

"Yeah, that's right! I beat him!" Buddy hollered loudly, his voice filled with false pride as he stand erect, legs apart, fists placed firmly on his hips and his chest thrust out, all in an attempt to bluff his way out of this predicament. He then took his right fist, stuck out his thumb and pointed it towards his chest. "And if you don't want some of what I gave him, you'll give me those bags and surrender peacefully!"

"Heh, well that's one idea…" The thief said, jumping down from his perch. He dug through his pocket and pulled out a switch knife, and with a flip of the switch, unsheathed the blade. He admired his reflection in the well kept blade and sneered. "Or we could kill you and take the money. How's that sound?"

"Ruh roh…" Buddy grunted as he heard the combined sounds of feet hitting the floor and switch blades popping out of their sheaths. He looked around nervously, looking for anything that he could use as a weapon. He then looked down at his left hand, and remembered the peculiar dream he had at the antiques shop. He then looked around one more time, and in desperation stuck out his hand, palm open. With closed eyes, he imagined the Oblivion Keyblade materializing in his left hand. _Please don't be a dream…_

No sooner had he finished his plea, a flash of light emanated from his hand, startling those who were closing in for the kill. But Buddy, who still had his eyes closed, didn't notice the light, but the feeling of a smooth, leather like handle in the palm of his hand and instantly closed his grip around it. He opened his right eye to peek at what had appeared, and to his astonishment, the Keyblade was there in his hand.

"How did he do that?!?" An astonished voice called out, asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Yeah, how did I?" Buddy himself asked under his breath in silence, he himself amazed and in shock of the Keyblade's sudden appearance. He looked it over in awe and wonderment. _But it isn't Oblivion…_

The Keyblade that he had summoned wasn't Oblivion or Oathkeeper, but a new one. This Keyblade had a gold guard, and the chain attached was silver and connected to a pendant comprised of a metal coin that was attached to two smaller ones, resembling ears of sorts. The blade of it was no blade at all, it being a long silver metallic poll, resembling a blunt force weapon. It had four teeth on it, with the two in the middle having round attachments to it. It was familiar and at the same time foreign to him. It struck at something within his forgotten memory. He was sure he had seen this Keyblade before.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" The thief barked angrily at his cohorts, pointing at Buddy as he yelled angrily. "JUST KILL HIM BEFORE HE TRIES ANYTHING ELSE!!"

This catching Buddy's attention, he pushed the mystery of the Keyblade out of his mind and readied himself for the fight at hand. As the thief rapidly approached Buddy, holding his knife out and off to the side with the intent to kill, Buddy firmly gripped his Keyblade with both of his hands and brought it around to his right. As soon as the thief was in striking distance, Buddy swung it around with all his might, smashing the end of the Keyblade into the side of the thief, cracking multiple ribs instantly.

**"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"** The thief howled in unimaginable pain. Buddy kept pushing, swinging the Keyblade around and he sent the thief flying to the other side of the room and crashing into three of his cohorts. With four enemies out of the way, he then instantly prepared for the next attack.

It was no contest. With the superior length of the Keyblade, Buddy could strike down the gang members before they could even get into the striking distance of their knives, and those who were lucky to get into range, the blond haired youth expertly dodged their attacks. Dodging, swinging, slashing and thrusting his way through the battle. He struck cleanly and precisely. He dodged with quickness and agility that he never thought he had. Finally, with the last of them unconscious, the battle had finished. Not even out of breath at the least, Buddy looked about the room at what he had accomplished.

_"Wow…"_ He muttered under his breath as he looked at the various gang members that have been thrown across the room, groaning in pain and clutching the places where broken bones were present. Amazed and bewildered that he actually beat all of them by himself, Buddy turned his concentration towards his Keyblade. He imagined it dissolving back into light. Responding to his thoughts, the mystery shrouded weapon disappeared in a flash, leaving Buddy only his bare hand. He looked at his palm, contemplating what it all could mean, wonder what exactly happened in his past that let him do such amazing and frightful things.

"Wha- What are you!?!?" The thief demanded. He had crawled towards Buddy on his stomach using his left hand, his right hand clutching the fractured ribs in an effort to ease the pain which paralyzed his legs. He was coughing up blood, as it streamed down his check from his lips. "No _human_ can do what you did just now!! Just what the hell are you!?!"

"I'm…. not really sure…" Buddy answered, now wondering himself that he may be more than just a regular human being. The thought of it scared him, and he quickly put it out of his mind. He looked about the room once more, trying to find logic in what had occurred. He had forgotten why he was there in the first place until he saw the crate that the handbags had been resting on in ruins, decimated by the impact of a gang member launched by his own attack. Buddy started towards the crate to look for it, but stopped midway and looked over his shoulder back at the fallen thief. "I've got to get those bags back to my friends. I'll send medics along with the police later, so sit tight okay?"

_**"No…"**_ The thief hissed under his breath as Buddy started inspecting the ruins of the crate, moving the gang member off to the side of the room and out of his way. The thief had managed to get to his knees as he watched the boy search. Hatred for Buddy boiled inside of him. Anger welled up in his heart. His eyes were wide with contempt, his nails dug into the damaged, decaying floorboard. He wanted so badly to hurt, to kill. He was consumed by his emotions. So much so, that he had failed to notice the dark wisps of vapor emanating from his entire body.

"Ah, here they are!" Buddy chirped happily, retrieving the two handbags from under a pile of broken wood. He checked to see that everything was still in the bags and smiled at accomplishing his goal. Just as he was about to turn around, he heard something that sounded like an explosion. He looked towards the door and saw that a strange black creature resembling the ones from his dream was standing where the thief had once lay. Like the ones he saw at the station, this one was all black with beady yellow eyes and antennae. However, these were much taller than the smaller, ant like creatures. This one's antennae cascaded over its head and down its back. While the others had been sporting a pot belly, this one was lean and fit. It stared at the blond haired youth blankly, turning its head slightly. Buddy could only return its blank gaze with his eyes scrunched in annoyance and disbelief as his eyebrow twitched slightly.

As if setting off a domino effect, explosions rang out and into the room. Each of the gang members that were thrown about the room erupted with darkness, and in their place stood a strange creature with beady yellow eyes. These creatures of every shape and size danced about the room, all staring at Buddy. Some of them resembled the first creature while most had a symbol of a heard being pierced diagonally from the bottom half of each side to the opposite, dividing the heart into four parts. Buddy panic slightly as he immediately realized that things may have turned for the worse for him, which he vocalized simply with a "Crap."

Then the one in the middle of the room lunged forward towards Buddy, the others following suit. Buddy panicked and attempted to summon his Keyblade, but was too scared to concentrate, resulting in brief bursts of light flashing from his hand.

**"DUCK!!"** A foreign voice called out in command. To scared and panicked to disobey, Buddy squatted down and threaded his hand through the handles of the handbags covering his head with both hands as he tucked it in, leaving him unable to witness the spectacle that was about to unfold. With a flash, the entire room was illuminated, and two wheels of fire spun out and struck at the creature that used to be the thief just as it was almost on top of Buddy, it making a horrific screeching sound as it evaporated instantly. But before the wheels could strike Buddy, they split apart and went in opposite directions, ripping into dark creature after dark creature, leaving them nothing but mist while decimating a lot of the furniture and boxes at the same time. When the last of the creatures had been decimated, the flames evaporated, revealing two large bladed chakrams. Buddy, sensing that the danger had passed, looked up to see what had saved him just in time to see the two bladed rings fly towards the door. They were caught by a man, much taller than he was, with triangles under each eye and fire red hair. He wore black jeans and black denim jacket that were both embroidered with flames. Under his jacket, was a plain white t-shirt, and he had a back-pack slung over his left shoulder.

"Th-th-thank you…" Buddy stuttered nervously as he stood up and approached the stranger. The red haired man ignored him and went to the wall that was on the left of the teen.

"Don't thank me yet. We're still not out of the woods. And don't put that Keyblade of yours away. We're gonna need it in another minute." The man said, dismissing one of his chakrams. He took his new free hand and pressed it against the wall, examining it. Buddy, looked in his hands and double-taked as he saw that in his right hand, he was holding a Keyblade. _I must have summoned it when I was ducked under…_

The red haired man stopped his hand at one point on the wall and stopped. He gave a sly smile, knowing that he had found what he was looking for. He backed off a couple steps and placed his arms down, as if he were about to strike.

"I'd keep my distance if I were you." He warned Buddy as he summoned his other chakram and returned his attention to the wall. The bladed rings began spinning at an incredible pace, looking more like buzz saws to the younger than bladed rings, the sound of them slicing through the air only increasing the resemblance. On closer inspection, Buddy noticed that the man himself wasn't spinning them. His palm was held open above the spinning blades. All of the sudden and without warning, the man flung his arms forward, the chakrams following them up and into the wall. Buddy instantly covered his face as chunks of brick, mortar and splinters of wood erupted from the wall as the chakrams dug into them. One lurched up and the other down as they burrowed forward with an incredible sound, each of them arcing to the left to make a circle, decimating the wall. Once the two had reached where their brethren once was, the man clenched his into fists, brought them to his chest, leaned back with his legs still lunged forward.

"Cover your ears." The man suggested once again, where Buddy was only too happy to oblige. He clenched his ears as hard as he could in preparation for whatever the man had planned. The red head then thrust his entire body forward, unclenching his hand as he did, pushing his open palm towards the wall. Instantly, the chakrams turned into flames once more, expanded inward and exploded, taking out the circular cut made by the chakrams with a deafening boom, rattling the entire building. Buddy, who was apparently shaken enough to lose his balance, successfully regained it as the shaking subsided, smoke filling the room. As the smoked cleared, Buddy saw the man staring out the hole that he had made, standing straight with his hands on his hips and smiling, looking rather proud of what he had done. He then looked over to Buddy and stuck out his hand, gesturing that the boy was to come forward.

"Wha-what's going on? What were those things?" Buddy asked as he approached with caution.

"Those things are called Heartless. They are creatures of darkness created whenever somebody gives into the darkness within their hearts while a world is flowing with darkness. Their hearts are then consumed by darkness as they lose their form and gain a new one." The man replied plainly. "As for what caused them…"

He pointed out the hole at something, at what Buddy couldn't see from where he was standing. He got in closer and peered out the hole. Outside, right above the alley looked to be some kind of black energy ball that was covered in a dark aura. It appeared to be hemorrhaging dark energy very violently.

"This world isn't one where darkness flows naturally." He said very plainly. "The only way that they could transform into Heartless so quickly was because of long term exposure to this thing."

"What is it?" Buddy asked, rather curious.

"A dark rift. It's a rip in the fabric of reality into the dark realm. These things are nasty hazards that have a tendency to leak darkness into this world. They usually mean trouble and need to be sealed immediately. Usually these things are a hassle to fix, but you should be able to make quick work of it."

"And how am I going to do that?"

"Well, duh!" The stranger said sarcastically. He then pointed towards the weapon that was still in Buddy's hand. "With your Keyblade, of course!"

"And how am I supposed to go about doing that?"

"Just point it at the damn thing!" He barked, a little annoyed. "The Keyblade should just take care of the rest."

Not sure of exactly what will happen, Buddy decided to take a chance and just roll with it. The stranger got out of the way and Buddy stood directly in front of the dark rift. Raising his Keyblade up over his head, he then swung it down swiftly, pointing it right in front of the dark rift. Sparkles started to form from the opposite end of the Keyblade, and soon after, a ray of pure white light streamed out and into the floating dark energy ball. It began to shrink, its aura becoming less thick by the moment. It kept getting smaller and smaller until finally, it disappeared with a pop, a small ring of light flowing outward. With it gone, Buddy dismissed his Keyblade and turned towards the stranger.

"Finally, we can get down to business…" The Stranger said with a sigh as he walked over to the wall, leaning up against it. "So, newb, where were you before you came to this world? What was your name from before?"

"Wait a minute…" Buddy complained. "Isn't it common courtesy to give your name before asking the name of someone else?"

_You little smart ass…_ The stranger thought to himself with a slight scowl. But he then just chuckled with a soft smile.

"Who am I?" He said rather snidely. He smirked as he stepped rushed forward and stopping right in front of Buddy before he could react, jumping slightly from the shock of the red haired man's sudden appearance in front of him. His smirk grew into a big smile as he stared a nervous Buddy in menacingly in the eyes. Once he was sure that what he said next would be engraved into his memory, he said with authority:

**"I'm Axel!!"**

Chapter 19: The Fateful Encounter!! Union of Fire and Light!: End.


	23. Chapter 20

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 20: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Nobodies, Sometimes go all to Hell.

"**DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!!"** An angry Axel said to himself, a little louder than usual, as he walked along the busy streets of Mall Street. He had once again dawned his aviators and bandanna, hiding his appearance from the outside world, giving his identity aminimity from the rest of the world, but did nothing to hide the scowl and furrowed brow brought about the extreme anger and annoyance that had been currently wrought his brain. He walked quickly and growled under his breath, his right eyebrow twitching. **"I HAVE THE WORST LUCK!!"**

"Hmmm?" An absent minded Buddy hummed, not really paying attention to his surroundings as he followed closely behind, clutching the recovered bags closely to ensure that they get back to their respective owners safe and sound. He was lost in thought, not of the stranger he was following, or the weird ordeal he had been through, he was thinking about how hungry he had gotten, and was clutching his stomach likely as he walked, wondering when he would be able to eat next. "You say something?"

"Dah…" Axel grunted, caught off guard. He was so consumed by his thoughts and didn't pay attention and spoke out loud earlier, unintentionally catching the attention of his young acquaintance. Quickly, he briefly looked over his shoulder, composing himself enough as to not arouse suspicion, smiled slightly and avoided possible troubles by saying "Just thinking to myself. It's nothing for you to worry about!"

"Okay then." Buddy said plainly, and his eyes once again began to wander, looking about to see where he would be able to attain his next meal. Axel, however, went back to thinking about how his mission had gotten severely more complicated only twenty five minutes earlier, brought about by the tiniest bit of unexpected and unknown information, supplied by the would be 13th member. He replays the event once again through his mind, rewinding to just after the revelation…

"Excuse me?" An exasperated Axel muttered, not believing his ears, walking a little closer to Buddy, an astonished look of disbelief plastered on his face. His eyes were wide as he chuckled nervously, as if it were a bad joke, because if what he had just heard were true, it would mean that his entire mission here had taken an abrupt turn for the worse. "For a moment I thought you said you had no—"

"Memory." Buddy said. He realized that telling the truth about his situation was going against the wishes of his friends, but he owed the stranger named Axel his life earlier, and decided he deserved to know the truth. "I remember nothing about my past. My friends, family, where I'm from and how I got here, even my own name, all gone."

"I was afraid of that…" A stunned axel croaked under his breath, his eye twitching.

"Well, I've got to get going." Buddy said rather frankly as he smiled slightly. "My friends are probably worried about me. Thank you for all of your help!"

Buddy rushed out the door as fast as he could, wanting to get the retrieved bags to his friends. Axel, still stunned from the news, just silently turned around on his heel, and started walking out the door, his right hand cupping in his chin as he rested his left hand on his right arm, lost in his own thoughts.

_Well, what the hell do I do now?_ He asked himself in his mind as he descended the stairs. _The difficulty of this mission just sky rocketed from easy as pie to damn near impossible! The only reason that made bringing the newbie in an easy mission is because they __**remember**__ what happened to them! How the hell does a paranormal being explain to someone else that they are a paranormal being without looking completely crazy?! Ah, hell, if I got paid, it wouldn't nearly be enough to deal with this crap… _

"Um, excuse me?" A familiar voice said, snapping axel out of his dazed state. Before Axel could realize it, he had already gone down four flights of stairs and was outside the building. There stood Buddy grinning rather nervously.

"What do you want?" Axel snapped, still rather peeved about how much more difficult his mission had become. "Weren't you in a hurry to get those bags back to your friends?"

"Well you see that's the thing…" Buddy said rather nervously, still scratching his head. "I came here following the guy who stole their bags, and…"

"You weren't paying attention to where you were going, and now you need my help to get back to where you where, right?"

"Yes! That's it exactly!" Buddy said excitedly. He then quickly and rigidly bowed down. "Could you please guild me back to Barter Boulevard?"

"Sure, why not?" He said without hesitation. He then walked passed Buddy, who was still bowing, and went on towards the city streets, pulling out his bandana and aviator glasses, putting them on as he walked. "You coming?"

"Y-Yes!" Buddy stuttered nervously as he snapped to attention. He didn't expect Axel to agree this quickly. He hurried along, closing the gap that Axel had put between them. Suddenly, Axel stopped and crossed his arms, tilting his head slightly.

"Is anything wrong?" Buddy asked, concerned by Axel's sudden stop. Suddenly, Axel turned around, and draped his arm around the boy, kneeling down just enough to be hanging off of him. He looked into his eyes with a slight smile on his face, intentionally and successfully creeping out the blond haired youth.

"Say…" He drawled in a hushed, secretive tone, still hanging off of Buddy. "How's about we keep what happened here just between little ol' us. Zat alright?"

"Why?" asked a rather confused Buddy.

"Well for starters…" Axel said, resuming his normal tone of voice. He lifted himself off of Buddy and walked away a couple steps, looking towards the city with his back turned to the youth. "As I've mentioned before, this isn't a world where the power of Darkness flows naturally. Because of that, this isn't a world where Heartless are a natural occurrence. The only reason that those guys turned into Heartless was because of their exposure to that dark rift. The way that thing was hemorrhaging dark energy, I'm surprised that they didn't turn ages ago."

"Yeah, but still..." Said a confused Buddy, trying to wrap his head around it. "Wouldn't it be better for us to warn people about the dangers? I mean, another dark rift could open."

"True, but how about this…" Axel drawled as he turned around, his right index finger up to his chin while he held his right elbow with his left hand in an astute posture, his left eyebrow cocked and a slight grin on his face. It was obvious that he was having fun with this. "If you told people about dark rifts and Heartless, It'll do either one of two things."

"Yeah, what?" Buddy asked.

"One, people will either start to panic, knowing that they could turn into monsters at any moment, or two, and much more likely…" Axel drawled as he started twirling his finger clockwise around the side of his head. "People will think that you are just plain nuts and ignore you. With many people, seeing is believing, and they won't just act on the word of a complete stranger, much less a kid."

"I guess you're right…" Buddy said with a sigh and a slight pout. "It does sound pretty farfetched. I wouldn't have believed it myself, if I hadn't seen what I just saw **and** gone there as well…"

"Huh, gone where?"

"Uh, the building! Gone to the building!" Buddy said, covering for his slip up. He wasn't ready to tell anyone about his trip to the Station of Serenity, receiving Oblivion and Oathkeeper, and battling that monstrosity that he now knew was a Heartless.

"Dude, you're repeating yourself…" Axel said with a suspicious look. "Maybe you are a little crazy."

"I'm just reaffirming what I saw, it was so unbelievable!" Buddy replied with a nervous smile. " Shouldn't we be going now?"

"Whatever…" Axel dismissed as he turned on his heel and led the lad back into the city.

That scene, which had occurred only a half an hour earlier, kept replaying in the Nobody's mind, time he should have spent planning his next move. Now they had finally returned to Barter Boulevard, and Buddy, forgetting his hunger, frantically looked around, trying to spot his friends.

Axel however, was still lost in thought. _To think, that a Nobody without any knowledge of their previous life can actually exist! Furthermore, to be able to use a Keyblade without a Heart is extraordinary. Did I guess right and this is the special power that Boss Xemnas mentioned, or is there something else? Furthermore…_ Axel looked over his shoulder at the confused Nobody. He then clenched the left side of his chest, about where his Heart would be, with his right arm momentarily. _What's this feeling that I get with this guy? I'm not sure if I like it…_

"BUDDY!!" A familiar female voice called out. Budd whipped around, and spotted his female companion, waving her hand in the air, a look of relief on her face. Fuu was standing right next to her, looking as solemn as she had ever been. Buddy quickly rushed over to them, bags in tow, Axel leisurely following behind now that his train of thought had been broken by the outburst. Buddy came to an abrupt stop only a few feet away from the girls.

"Hi!" Buddy chirped rather loudly, a smile on his face and his arm raised in the air in greeting, acting as if he had only been gone for a few minutes. Olette, however was not as pleased.

"Don't 'Hi' me! We were worried about you! We were about to go to the police!" She said in a huff, thrusting her arms down.

"Wait a minute, she…" Buddy pointed towards the stoned faced Fuu, who was leaning against the wall. "… Was worried about me? How could you tell?"

"Don't joke around!" Olette lectured to her companion. "What if something happened to you? I don't know what I would do! You just ran off without saying a word to me! What if you got killed?!"

"This conversation sounds vaguely familiar…" Buddy drawled with a sly smile, recalling a similar conversation about Olette going off on her own. The referenced was not lost on the brightly clad girl, as she was caught as she was about to speak. She then just closed her eyes, put her hands on her hips and with an annoyed smile, she said in a huff:

"Touché"

"Anyways…" a broadly smiling Buddy said, trying to suppress a fit of the giggles, he remove the bags from over his shoulders and handed them to the appropriate girl. "I got your bags back. Lucky you two came color coded!"

"**MY BAG!!"** squealed a giddy Olette, snatching the bag from his hands. "I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE IT AGAIN!! THANK YOU!!"

As she took her own bag, Fuu approached the blond youth and with a slight smile, she slapped the boy across the back in appreciation, knocking him forward a little bit, causing him to bend over slightly.

"GOOD WORK MULE!" Fuu said with a hint of happiness in her voice.

"No problem, I think…" Buddy muttered, recovering from the fierce blow to his back. Standing up straight once again, he went on to explain his new companion, who had just approached the teen trio. "I didn't do it alone. I had a little from this guy. I wouldn't call him a 'friend', per say, but he seems pretty cool. His name is--"

"Reno" Axel interrupted, taking Olette's hand which had been extended in greeting. Buddy looked at him in suspicion with a raised eyebrow. "The name is Reno. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hello Reno! My name is Olette!" She replied, introducing herself with a warm smile as she clutched her purse closely. But then her smile was replaced with a look of confusion. She stared at 'Reno' with her head slightly tilted. "You seem familiar. Have we met before?"

_Crap!_ Axel panicked inside his mind, still able to keep his cool on the inside. _The newbie's friend is the same kid that was with that hot chick that got attacked! They looked similar, but I didn't get a good look at her then! Okay Axel old boy, just play it cool. It's not the end of the world. You can do this…_

"You must be mistaken." Axel said with a smile. "If I had ever met a young woman as beautiful as you, I surely would have remembered."

"I-I guess I was mistaken then. I'm sorry." A crimson cheeked Olette murmured as she gave a slight bow. Trying to hide her blushing face, she turned around and started rummaging through her bag, checking to see if anything was missing. Fuu sighed at the sight of her friend getting flustered so easily, but none the less thought it was a good idea to check her own bag to see if everything was in order.

"'_Reno?!'_" Buddy whispered under his breath while the girls were checking their things, giving Axel the evil eye rather fiercely.

"I'll explain later." Axel silently replied to the youth, to avoid being heard by the girls. In another half a minute, the two girls turned back around.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. Nothing is gone, at least." Olette chimed happily, grinning towards them.

"That's good. I'm glad nothing got taken. I'd feel horrible if it did." Buddy said with a smile, satisfied with the outcome of his little venture.

"Well, aren't you just the sweetest guy?" Olette said appreciatively. She walked over to Buddy and gave him a peck on the cheek. "You're a real hero, Buddy."

"Aw shucks! Twern't nothing!" He replied happily.

"Well, if that's the case, I will be taking my leave." Axel announced with a slight bow. He turned around and began to walk away.

"STOP!" Fuu commanded. Axel froze in his tracks and turned around.

"What?! What's wrong now?!" He barked rather annoyed. Fuu then thrust a couple of parcels into his arms. Axel, looking rather confused, looked at the blue haired girl, who was grinning slyly at the brown haired girl, who had a big, gleeful grin.

"You shouldn't have turned around man. You should have just kept on walking…" Buddy said with a sigh, rubbing the palm of his hand against his forehead.

"What are you blathering on about?!" Axel demanded, glaring at the boy.

"What if we get robbed again? This has me so scared…" Olette asked Axel, looking, rather innocent as she held her hands behind her back bending over slightly. She was looking down and off to the right, looking almost on the verge of tears. "I'd feel _soooo_ much safer if a big, strong, handsome man was here to protect weak, frail, defenseless girls like us Reno."

_Yeah right. What a crock!_ Buddy thought to himself.

"Yeah well, I am pretty fantastic, aren't I?" Axel boasted, his head held up high, snorting in pride. "I suppose I could keep you two company for a bit…"

"YAY!" Olette cheered, throwing her arms into the air. She twirled around in a quick little victory dance and flashed the V for victory sign to Fuu on stopping, giving a little wink when she did. "Now we get to buy twice as much stuff!"

"Congratulations." Buddy said with a sigh, now holding his female companions shopping bags. "You've just been conned into being a bag boy for the rest of the day."

"Protector." Axel corrected. "I've been conned into being their **protector** for the rest of the day.

"Come on boys!" Olette hollered out, waving them to follow. "We've got a lot more stores to hit!"

"Believe what you want to man…" Buddy said in a defeated tone, walking forward towards the girls. "But when you realize the truth, just remember that it's a waste of time and energy to fight them on it. Just go with the flow."

"Oh, come on!" Axel replied, dismissing Buddy's comment. "They can't actually be serious about that."

"**I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE ACTUALLY SERIOUS!!"** Axel hollered in anger. Three and a half hours later, he is standing in front of the plaza at the train station. His and Buddy's load had tripled between the time, with Buddy carrying the bag containing the clothes Hayner had lent Buddy that had been deposited into a locker earlier that day.

"I told you…" Buddy chuckled tiredly, happy that the only thing left to do is to dump the stuff at the task-mistresses homes.

"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in." Axel snarled, annoyed to the fact that he had yet to complete his mission, _and_ he somehow got conned into carrying the spoils of two teenage girls.

"Hey, at least they paid for dinner!" Buddy said in an effort to cheer Axel up. The girls were off talking to each other, trying to find out the best way to their respective houses. Once it looked like they had reached a conclusion, they walked towards their captives.

"As it turns out…" Olette announced cheerfully, clapping her hands together slightly. "That Fuu and I live fairly close to each other, so we won't have to go out of our way for anything!"

"Oh, joy." Axel said sarcastically, hiding his scowl behind the mountain of boxes. "Can we just get this over with please?"

"Okay, our houses should be down that street a ways." Olette directed, pointing to a street that was off to the side a bit. Just as they were about to leave, Fuu approached Olette's side, and whispered something into her ear. "Okay, but could you hurry up please?"

"What is it NOW?!" Axel barked with annoyance as Fuu ran off.

"Sorry. Fuu said she needed to use the little girl's room. She'll be back in a moment. Sorry." Olette answered in an apologetic tone. Axel just grunted and the three of them waited around for a minute until a voice rang out, breaking the silence.

"HEY OLETTE!! STRANGER!!" The voice cried out, the three of them turned around to see Hayner and Pence running towards them. The two of them were wearing similar outfits they were wearing the day before. Hayner had on cameo pants, suspenders, and a plain white t-shirt while Pence had on jeans, a tee, and a black undershirt on. Olette quickly ran up to the two boys and grabbed them in a huddle, whispering something to them.

"What's with them?" Axel asked, starring at them with a raised brow.

"They're kind of like a gang." Buddy answered. The huddle broke just as Fuu returned to them from the restroom.

"Hey Buddy! Looks like Olette kept you busy!" Pence said as he approached the two holding the various bags and boxes.

"How do you know these aren't all mine?" Buddy replied to the friendly faced teen.

"Because I'm her usual victim." Pence remarked with a chuckle. "I've been thinking, How about tomorrow you and I hang out? Hayner will be 'indisposed' for another day or so, and Olette and I can show you around.

"About that…" Olette interrupted. "I can't. I have plans to visit a friend in the hospital. Sorry."

"So looks like it'll be just you and me then!" Buddy said happily in reply. He maneuvered himself to where he could talk to Pence face to face without the interference of any boxed up purchases. "What did you have in mind?"

"We'll, I was thinking we could maybe ask around the town about you." Pence murmured under his voice. "How you lost your memory notwithstanding, you came to Twilight Town for a 

reason. And I was thinking that we could investigate the seven mysteries of Twilight Town. Maybe a little active thinking will stimulate your memory."

"Sounds good…" As Buddy and Pence conversed, Hayner was eyeing Fuu with intense suspicion.

"Why is **she** here?" He asked as he turned to face Olette, thrusting his thumb in Fuu's direction, not bothering to say it quietly.

"She's here because not everyone shares the same animosity that you and Seifer seem to have for each other." Olette scoffed, dismissing the rudeness Hayner so brazenly displayed. "And besides, I happen to consider Fuu and Seifer friends. They like me."

"Whatever…" Hayner drawled, who was looking over his shoulder towards Fuu, who was giving him the fiercest evil eye she could muster.

"Excuse me? Aren't we forgetting something?" Axel interrupted, reminding them all that there were still matters at hand.

"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Olette said rather embarrassed. "We should get going!"

"who's this guy?" Hayner asked, his suspicion finding a new target.

"Be nice Hayner!" Olette demanded, shaking her finger. "This is Reno. He was nice enough to help us out."

"Ha! What kind of sucker would let himself get conned like that!" Hayner scoffed, enraging Axel just slightly. As things were winding down, Pence once again turned to Buddy.

"Hey Buddy? Do you know the way to the Usual Spot?" Pence asked.

"You mean the hideout? Yeah, sure!"

"Then how about you give me all that stuff and go rest up for tomorrow?"

"Are you sure?" Buddy asked, unsure of what to do.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm used to it. Besides, you must be tired of being her slave by now!" Pence assured him as he relieved him of his load.

"Okay, thanks." Buddy said with a smile. He then handed Hayner the bag containing his spare clothes. "And thanks for letting me borrow these."

"No problem." Hayner replied with a grin. Suddenly, Olette's eyes lighted up, as she pranced to the center of the group, dancing to show off her clothes.

"You two have never seen me in this outfit before, have you?" Olette chirped happily as she danced in place. She stopped in front of Hayner, bent over a little, and gave her best smile. "What do you think of it Hayner?"

"It's too frilly for my tastes." Hayner said, unaffected by Olette's performance. "Can't you just wear what you usually do?"

"Wh-why you--"Olette huffed in anger. She stood straight up, raised her left hand, and brought it about. **"JERK!!"**

**SLAP!**

Olette stomped off towards her house, leaving Hayner with his throbbing right cheek a bright beet red, leaving him to ponder the question: "What'd I do?"

"MORON." Fuu said plainly as she passed by Hayner's right side, elbowing him in the side as hard as she could.

"Dude, you are so inept." Pence said as he passed Hayner, carrying his load.

"Smooth dude. Just smooth." Axel replied. He approached him and unloaded his baggage onto the boy.

"Why do I have to carry this crap?!" Hayner demanded, now suddenly wondering how he got to be the bad guy.

"Because if you do, maybe the little lady will forgive you a little." Axel retorted instantly. "But I'm just some sucker who got himself conned. What the hell do I know?"



All Hayner could do was grumble and trot off, following the larger group. Suddenly, Olette stopped, allowing the others to pass her by. Once they did, she turned around and looked at Buddy.

"Despite some... Complications, I really had fun with you today Buddy. You're a good friend."

"Strangely enough, I feel exactly the same way. Minus the complications, today was fun." Buddy replied in earnest

"Thank you for the wonderful day! I'll see you later! Good Night!" Ollete hollered as she waved, running to catch up to the other three.

"See ya later!! Good Night!!" Buddy replied. Just as she was out of sight, he yawned suddenly, the exhaustion from the day setting in. He then turned toward Axel, who was now leaning up against the railing overlooking the town, his eyes glued onto the magnificent view. Buddy came up beside him, momentarily looking at Axel, and then joined his gaze to the city. A few minutes were spent in silence before Buddy once again spoke. "Thanks for your help today."

"No prob." A weary Axel replied.

"So I guess this is good bye then."

"Maybe." Axel once again replied. He knew he wouldn't get the mission done today, so he decided not to bother. He can bide his time.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again. Good bye!!" Buddy said as he ran off to the hide out, eager to go to sleep. Axel waited until he was out of ear shot and he looked over and watched as the young Nobody departed.

"Oh, we'll see each other again, and sooner than you think too. You can count on that." He said with a sly sneer, removing his bandana and aviators. Then he looked towards the horizon, and took a moment to appreciate the coming twilight hour, the wind blowing in his hair, welcoming the coming day.

Chapter 20: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Nobodies, Sometimes go all to Hell. End.


	24. Chapter 21

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 21: Side Stepped Side Story #IV: Rose Red Blood! Pt-1

With his disguise removed, Axel overlooked the town from the overlooking plaza, taking in its majesty, wanting nothing more than to end a hectic day. He leans forward on the railing, and leans his head in rest. Minutes past as he stands deathly still, not even budging an inch. Suddenly the clock chimes out five times, signaling the turn of the fifth hour. Without turning around, Axel speaks to some unseen being, calling them out.

"You can come out, you know." Axel stated plainly, still turned towards the city view point, opening his eyes and looking towards the city once again. "How long are you going to keep hidden?"

A moment later, thousands and thousands of pink flower petals started flowing down, littering the plaza. Axel snatched a petal that fluttered by out of the air in order to take a closer inspection, and noticed that it was a pink rose petal. All of them were rose petals.

"It's _that_ fruity bastard?!" Axel moaned to himself. He turned around and walked a couple steps towards the clock tower, looking up to the gigantic face of the tower. He scowled as his stomach churned in displeasure and annoyance. "Oh **spare** me!"

Instantly, the storm of petals swarmed in front of the face of the giant clock, creating a veritable miniature tornado of flora. The pink plumage twirls around violently, flying from all directions, ones that had already landed came to join the growing twister of rose petals. Larger and larger it grew, until every last petal had joined the cyclone.

_I forgot that this clown gets turned on by theatrics._ Axel thought to himself with a sigh as he watched the rose petals swirl high above him, just wishing this farce would end. Almost as if to grant his wish, the tornado of petals exploded, dropping almost like stones to the ground, creating piles all around the entrance to the train station as other petals flew all over. Petals that flew within a few feet of Axel, however, were burnt instantly. In place of the twister stood a tall figure wearing an organization uniform just like Axels. The hood was up, preventing anyone from seeing the figure's face.

"This floral transportation technique of yours wastes a lot of energy. It'd be much easier on you to just use a dark corridor. You do know that, right?" Axel snarled, looking up at the hooded figure, eyeing him intensely.

"The dark corridors are alright and all…" the dark clad figure said in response with crossed arms, tilting his head slightly. "But it lacks a certain je ne sais quoi…."

"Whatever…" Axel grunted while rolling his eyes, not even bothering to dignify the new arrival with a proper response. "So just what the hell are you doing here Marluxia?"

The figure reached up with both hands and pulled down his hood, revealing a young man looking to be roughly around Axel's age. He had long pink well managed spiky hair, a sharp chin and deep blue eyes. He removed his hands from his hood and placed his right hand on his stomach with his left behind his back, giving a dignified bow.

"Well met Axel." Marluxia chided, smiling down at the annoyed Axel after standing back up from his bow. "When did you notice my presence?"

"Since I first arrived." Axel responded fiercely, shooting Marluxia a spiteful look. "You either just got here, or have proven that you've got no life of your own and had been waiting for me."

"As sharp of a tongue as ever…"Marluxia chuckled, lifting one leg up, placing it onto the ledge, resting his arm on it as he peered down.

"So what do you want?!" Axel barked loudly in demand, glaring up at his not so trusted colleague, perched upon the clock tower. "You didn't come all the way to Twilight Town for nothing! Spill it!"

"What makes you think I'm here for anything?" Marluxia quipped back in a dismissive tone, shrugging his shoulders rather obviously, not intending to give Axel a direct answer right away. "Je prends juste dans les vues."

"_Great…"_ Axel hissed to himself under his breath, looking up at his current source of his aggravation with a scowl. _"He picked up __**another**__ weird language from some back water world."_

Marluxia gazed over the grand scenery that can only be seen from the top of his perch. The breath taking view washing over him as mere moments passed, scanning over the grand horizon. He gave a sort of gleeful sigh, and then brought his left hand up in front of his face. 

Out of thin air, a pink rose appeared, Marluxia wrapping his fingers gently around the stem of the plant. He brought it up to his nose, and gave it slight sniff, taking in the lustrous scent.

"Magnifique." Marluxia muttered in a breathless awe, wide eyed from the sight of the town, bathed in the light of the setting sun. "C'est si beau."

"Twilight Town is wonderful, is it not Axel?" The pink haired figure said loudly with a hint of glee in his voice. "Nowhere else does such a world exist. A world, half cloaked in the darkness, half in the light. Cherished and held lovingly by both, it is the only place where these two opposing forces can exist together, harboring this unique and special place with their tender caresses. It's almost as if the light put down their arms long ago for the slightest of moments, and came together, merging, blending into one, and created a cradle of twilight, placing this world into protective womb. Neither the darkness nor the light, but something else all together. When you think about it, Twilight Town is a reflection of we Nobodies, No?"

"No." Axel replied rather sharply, the slight breeze blowing through his hair, his eyes closed for a moment. He had his arms crossed as if he were about to give a lecture. "Unlike us, Twilight Town isn't rejected by the light and the dark. If this world is a cherished child, then we are the bastard step children they wish to forget."

"Peut-être ainsi..." Marluxia said with a sigh. He took another sniff of his rose once more as he brushed his middle and ring finger across his forehead to remove a few strands of hair that were blown astray by the wind from his sight. "But there is no doubting its radiance. Why, if I had a heart, it would be moved from its very bottom."

"Yeah, it is pretty…" Axel muttered as he looked over his shoulder to the expanding horizon for a moment. His gaze than shot back forward towards Marluxia fiercer than ever. "But I highly doubt you would come all the way from castle Oblivion just to take in the sights! Just what are you doing here?"

Marluxia, caught in mid sniff, opened his eyes slightly and peered down at Axel, eyeing him with the same spark of suspicion that Axel had cast upon him. He dropped his hands to his side, the still in his left hand, hanging down.

"Who are **you** to judge **my** actions? You hardly know me!" Marluxia rebuttled in annoyance, matching Axel's piercing gaze with one of his own. "Since I first joined the organization, we have only spoken to each other three times prior, and you haven't even spoken a hundred words to me between them! Also, I sincerely doubt you were paying attention."

Axel opened his mouth and raised a finger in argument, but as he searched his memory for something to say, he found that he was sorely lacking counter to Marluxia's claim, dropping his hand and clamping his mouth and shutting his mouth in a minor defeat. _All I remember is being really, really, annoyed a few times while he was standing in front of me._

"But I, on the other hand…" Marluxia patronizingly drawled as a slight, sly smile crept across his face. Propping his right hand onto his hip, he tossed his head back slightly in arrogance. "Made it a point to learn about all of my so called _'colleagues.'_ I study their habits, personalities, everything. You aren't the only person adept at reading people, Axy."

"Aw, hell, here we go." Axel grunted to himself, knowing that Marluxia was about to ride his high horse into the ground.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Marluxia demanded sternly, having turned the tables on Axel. "I know that you must be acting on the orders of that fool, Xemnas, but here I find you helping out a bunch of kid. That's very unlike you."

"So what if I did?" Axel said in a huff. "Like you said, the Boss sent me here, but it's more of a punishment than anything else. Guess I pissed him off something fierce this time. And I figured, why not help out to kill some time? I can do things on a whim too."

"Oh, please, you have a motive for damn near everything!" scoffed the pink haired man. "You'd swindle a lollipop away from a baby if it meant you got out far enough ahead!"

"Well, true…" Axel whispered to himself. He then hollered back up to Marluxia. "And what makes you think I wanted anything from a bunch of pre-teens?"

"Nothing from the girls and those rather unintelligent looking boys…" Marluxia drawled, the rose raised back up, rolling the stem of the rose between his thumb and index finger, resting her right hand on the inside of her elbow. "But you seemed rather interested in the spiky haired blond boy."

Axel fell silent, his eyes into a fiercer gaze than ever before. His eyes bore into Marluxia's skull with an inferno like intensity. Marluxia, whose expression didn't change an inkling, held immense delight in messing with his elder nobody, knowing that he was on the right track. He began to pace back and forth upon the clock tower, arms crossed.

"There is talk among the lessers…" Marluxia chided coyly as walked in the confined space. "That the Keyblade wielder had turned into Heartless."

Still, Axel said nothing, unresponsive to his deductions.

"Surely, someone with a heart as strong as that would give birth to a powerful Nobody."

Axel grows tenser by the moment, he grits his teeth.

"You can tell me Axel. Xemnas's assignment, it wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a potential new recruit?"

"**Why don't you mind your own business?" **Axel hollered angrily up to his less than favored colleague. **"Ya bishy reject from a bad yaoi!"**

Marluxia stopped dead in his tracks stunned, his eyes wide. He turns towards Axel with a crazed smile on his face. His left hand dropped down while his right rubbed his forehead. He clutches the stem of the rose, the thorns piercing the leather and digging into his flesh. A sickly, brownish blood started streaming down from the black glove down the stem.

"Excusez-moi?" Marluxia croaked as he chuckled darkly as he glared insanely at Axel between his fingers. "Qu'avez-vous dit? Je dois avoir entendu de Mlle..."

"You heard me!" Axel barked with a snarl. "Why don't you go crawl back to that stain of a rock pile you call a castle!"

"You inconsiderate bastard!" Marluxia snarled, his face filled with rage and disgust, turning around in anger. "How could I have even considered you! Just dry up and die with the rest of that fool's cronies!"

Wait! Hold on a sec!" Axel called out as he reached out his hand after him. "Considered me for what? What about me?"

Marluxia peeked over his shoulder, analyzing Axel methodically. His mind reared as his plans ran through his head.

"Do you really want to know?" Marluxia hissed as he turned back around. An evil, tooth bearing sneer spread across face.

"Well, yeah." Axel said with wonder, scratching his cheek nervously.

"Very well then, you Imbécile. I'll tell you…" Marluxia stated, his leg once again propped on the ledge as he held out his blood stand hand, blood still dripping from the stem of his rose. "That is, if you are able to avoid drowning in my ocean of _**Rose Red Blood!**_"

Marluxia launched up from the ledge, scattering rose petals as he flew. Axel looked up as a rain of blood flew down, staining the marble flooring. Marluxia sped towards Axel, wielding a scythe with a pink and red blade and green shaft brandished with both hands over his shoulder.  
The air rushed by the Graceful Assassin as the calm face that he wore earlier was replaced with one of crazed, murderous intent with eyes locked on the Flurry of Dancing Flames.

Chapter 21: Side Stepped Side Story #IV: Rose Red Blood! Pt-1:End

Marluxia french dialog translation:

Je prends juste dans les vues. I'm just taking in the sights.

MagnificoMagnificent

C'est si beau. It is so beautiful.

Peut-être ainsi... Maybe so…

Excusez-moi ?Excuse me?

Qu'avez-vous dit ? Je dois avoir entendu de Mlle... What did you say? I must have miss-heard...

ImbécileAsshole


	25. Chapter 22

This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!

Chapter 22: Side Stepped Side Story #V: The Old Shop keep and the Red Cloak.

Even in Mall Street, the toll of the clock tower can be heard, it sounding out six rings from its bells, sounding the signal for another wave of shops to begin closing. Many shops had closed an hour before, while some will stay open for a few hours more. On one particularly desolate stretch of shops which had already closed for the night, one lone antiques store was still open, its lone proprietor preparing to close up shop himself, going around and gathering his belongings for the lonely walk home.

"Another day, another munny down the crapper." The old man said with a sigh, as he gathered the last of his things from behind the counter; he came out and slowly trotted toward the door, bringing his cane forward with every step to keep his balance. "I guess people aren't really interested in antiques anymore."

As he was about eight feet away from the door, he heard the ring of the entry bells, signaling the arrival of someone. The old man looked over towards the door, and saw a mysterious figure standing in front of the doorway. He looked to be about five feet eight inches tall, and was wearing a thick black sweatshirt and black pants. Over the sweatshirt, he wore a long sleeved red cloak, with the cape going down to just above his ankles. The hood was pulled over his head, preventing his face from being seen. He took a quick look around the store, sizing it up.

"HEY YOU LITTLE SHIT!" the old codger barked angrily at the pointing a crooked finger his direction. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, COMING IN AT CLOSING TIME?!"

"My apologies for bothering you." The young intruder said apologetically as he took a few steps in. By the sound of his voice, the old man judged him to be around the same age as the boy that had been snooping around the store earlier that day. The boy opened the right hem of his cloak slightly and reached inside, pulling a thick brown pouch out of his pocket and throwing it down on a nearby table, the string keeping the top closed coming loose, letting the munny inside pour out onto the wooden top. "But I would like to make a purchase."

The old man stared at the pouch and the treasured little gems pouring out from it with ferocity for a brief moment. Then he looked back and forth between the bag and the young stranger for 

a couples seconds. Then with speed you wouldn't expect by looking at him, he approached the red and black clad youth.

"Well, _so_ sorry for that 'little shit' comment earlier! Welcome to Collectable Curiosities, where you can't find anything that can be found everywhere else!" The old man said gleefully with a big grin plastered on his face, bouncing slightly at his knees, his beard keeping up with the rhythm. His personality had done a complete one-eighty, as he was a total contradiction of the surly old man from before. He eyed the stranger with greed in his eyes as he rubbed his hands together while holding his cane under his arm. He motioned towards the red and gold suit of armor. "Now what can I sucker you to buy? How about this suit of armor? A perfect gift for the missus! Or might you be interested in-"

"I already know what I want to buy." The young man stated plainly, holding out his palm to stop the man. He then pointed to the box, sitting isolated on a table in the corner. "I wish to purchase the contents of that box over in the corner."

The old man's soft face and big smile had disappeared as quickly as it had came, the harsh eyes and scowl returning to the front. He looked the youth over, eyeing him with new found suspicion.

"That thing? It's not for sale." He said in a huff, turning his head slightly. "You can buy everything else in the store, but I'm afraid that the box is off limits."

"I don't think you understand." The cloaked figure replied calmly, pulling two more munny pouches and throwing them onto the table next to the other. "Munny isn't an issue for me."

"**You** are the one who doesn't understand." The old man growled, cocking his eye fiercely at the youth. "So let me _lay down_ the facts, _Jack_: You can have all the munny in the universe, and you'd still be one munny short to buy what's in that box. _Ya dig?_"

The mysterious youth fell silent for a moment, staring deep into the old man's eyes. He sighed, and spoke with a note of regret in his voice:

"So, you know the truth about that Keyblade. How unfortunate. I had hoped to avoid killing you."



The old man instantly grabbed his can and held it midway between the hand and the foot as he started chanting an unknown, ancient dialogue as fast as he could. The handle began to glow a mysterious light, as it pulsated with a magical aura.

"**TO SLOW OLD MAGE!"** the red cloaked youth barked as he thrust his hand out towards the old wizard, a mass of black energy shooting out from his palm, striking the old man with incredible force, shattering his cane and sending him flying through four shelves, shattering old ceramic figures and pots, over the counter, and slamming into the back wall of the store, coughing up a spray of blood on impact. He slid down and crumpled onto the floor, sitting against the wall as limp as a rag doll, blood flowing from his mouth. He struggled to lift his head up so he could see the individual once more.

"I see… so you…you are from…the darkness." The old wizard croaked, desperately trying to speak.

"In a matter of speaking." Replied the hooded individual as he approached the counter top, having replaced the munny pouches into his inside pocket. He then gave a slight bow. "I am neither here in the light, nor there in the darkness. I am of the Disciples of Twilight, those who are trapped in the void between these two worlds."

"It doesn't matter where—"The old man stuttered, but then he hacked up a spray of blood, coughing violently. Once he was done coughing, he made another attempt to speak. "Doesn't matter where you are from. The Keyblade… it will only listen… only listen to… those precious few… with the right heart…"

"The right heart?" The cloaked figure repeated. He stuck out his left hand towards the wooden box, palm open. A moment later, outside the view of the old mage, the wooden container exploded in a burst of dark energy, sending splinters and shards of glass all over the store. In another flash of darkness, a Keyblade handle with a broken keychain and blade reappeared in the cloaked individual's hand. Dark energy emerged from the shattered tip, replacing the lost blade with one of dark energy. "Well, what do you know, It looks like I qualify!"

"But… how…" The old mage demanded in a panicked tone, eyes wide out of horror. The youth came around the corner with the blade and passed the old man by, entering the back room.

I thought I felt something. So this is where the first one was." The youth said, as he looked into the room. Inside on the wall opposite from the door, was a mural inscribed with ancient texts and symbols, all coming together and wrapping around a painting of wind. He brought his 

Keyblade up, and slashed apart the mural, it instantly disintegrating, fading away into nothingness. "The first seal, the seal of the wind, is undone."

He returned to the front and stood before the man, looking down at him. Once again he raised up the Keyblade, preparing to strike.

"I'm afraid I can't let you live. It would only mean trouble for me and mine later on." He stated coldly, no hint of emotion in his voice. "But please take solace in the fact that you had a long life."

With these final words, he slashed the old man across the chest, blood spraying from his wound. The old mage's neck went limp, along with what little control he had in his body. As his life faded from him, he saw clearly the back of his killer: his cloak had an emblem of a heart inside a star.

Chapter 22: Side Stepped Side Story #V: The Old Shop keep and the Red Cloak: End.


	26. Chapter 23

DBA is my personal project. It has been presented on other sites titled Beginning of Destiny under the name of Allstargamer. Please respect my hard work and the work of others and don't plagerize.

Chapter 23: Side Stepped Side Story #VI: Never Trust a Pirate.

The Île de la Tortue, or Tortuga as it is more commonly known by the residents of the seas of the Caribbean, is an island where chaos and anarchy reigns. Any semblance of structure, law, or order had long been abandoned by the His Majesty's royal navy, leaving the secluded port town to drown in an endless sea of profanity, violence, and degradation as the pirates moved in, claiming Tortuga for their own, drowning themselves in their liquor to forget the never ending hardships cast upon them by the sea. In fact, those not in the "profession" who would dare to venture to Tortuga and lucky enough to leave with their lives would often describe it as being one never ending drinking binge.

As to be expected from such a port, it is littered with bars and brotherals for pirates and permanent residents alike to drown their sorrows in. One bar in particular, which was nestled away in one of the many dirt back roads that weaved through and between the decrepit, decaying wood and granite structures of this particular port town, was fairly prominent. The _Faithful Bride_ was almost always filled to capacity, as there were never any rules. No drinking limits, no last calls, and as long nobody starts a bar fight, no consequences for drunken behavior. If you had five guineas in your pocket, there's a pint with your name on it. As one could imagine, this leads to some pretty wild nights.

But as nights usually go, this night in particular was quiet. Only one knuckle duster broke out around sun set between two drunken patrons fighting over who gets to make out with a portrait of a young woman hanging in the corner. From then on until late into the night, everyone drinking happily and making merry, singing in the flattest, most out of sync and off chord song of _What should We Do With a Drunken Sailor_ one could ever have the displeasure of listening too. It would have gone on all through the night, if the doors of the bar weren't thrown open, clattering against the wall, directing the attention of everyone in the structure towards the front of the tavern. The sight that they all saw was enough to sober them all instantly and drain the blood from their faces, putting an end to their intoxicated merriment and filling them with fear.

What they saw standing in the door way, propping himself up against the frame, was what could only be described as ghost made flesh. A man believed to be long dead huffed air heavily, gasping in as much air as he could. He took a step into the bar, his leather boots falling like stones against the worn, weathered wooden floor. He trots across the room, towards the bar nestled against the opposite wall. His red bandana, usually worn wrapped around his fore head, was pulled down around his neck, letting his long, wild mane fall down around his face, ragged from years of lack of care, saved for two braded strands, adorned with fine beads. His once finely trimmed beard and mustache, something he took great pride in and went to great lengths maintaining in the past, had grown long and shaggy upon his face, accompanied by a good layer of coarse facial hair. His long sleeved white silk shirt, which was 

always without blemish, was now stained with sweat, pitch, and sea water, the top three buttons long gone, and the hem reduced to tatters. The leather vest he wore over the shirt, while sturdier than some of the clothes he was wearing, was not left unscathed, as bits and pieces had gone missing from the hem. The sleeves of his trousers had been permanently soiled with sea water. The only thing that seemed to have been left unsoiled was the belt looped around his waist, and the Flintlock pistol sheathed through it. He staggered up to the counter and slumps into an open stool, head hung low, his hair hiding his face. He tiredly lifted his left hand up, clenched it into a fist and slammed the counter, sending the drunks seated at the bar scattering to other tables.

"_Rum..."_ He growled in a raspy tone of exhaustion, his voice coarse and cracked with breath holding a stench most rancid and foul. _"Give… Me…__**RUM!**__"_

The barkeeper, a tough veteran seadog, didn't scare as easily as his customers. He eyed the scraggly, worn out shell of a man with his aged, pale eyes and rubbed his rugged chin through his course gray beard.

"Who are ye?" He inquired with a great deal of suspicion.

"I am—"The stranger croaked before coughing violently for a brief moment. Once he had settled down, he cleared his throat, composing himself, and spoke again, his voice was much smoother, but still had a bit of a rasp to it. "I am who you think I am."

"Ya are, are ye?" the barkeeper replied with a snide, leaning over the bar to examine the man closer, propping up the bulk of his upper body with his massive arms. "That be impossible lad. There's no way you could possibly be him."

"And why not?"

"Well for starters…" The Barkeeper grunted, standing up straight and folding his arms. "They say that the last that anyone one saw 'ye,' you were trapped on a desert isle with not but a single shot for when insanity started to creep in. They say that ye were as good as dead, with no hopes of escape. They say that ye were nothing but a memory."

The scraggily man listened silently to the old barkeeper, right hand still resting on the wooden counter. Some of the other people in the bar creped forward to listen in, curiosity having overpowered their fear. After a moment of silence, he began to chuckle to himself, sending waves of shivers down the spines of almost everyone in the establishment.

"Well, 'they' say a lot, don't they? But they be forgetting one very small detail, mate." He scoffed in his slightly rasped voice, untying the bandana from around his neck and gave it a yank, the red silk rustling through the air, followed by a loud snap. He then held both ends of the silken strip, flipped his hair back and brought the bandana to his forehead, wrapping it around and tying it off behind his head, revealing 

a pair of brown eyes. After words, He leaned onto the bar counter towards the bar keeper, his left arm hanging off of the counter. As he looked the barkeeper square in the eyes, he speaks in a tone of certainty and assuredness, as if all of life's questions could be answered with what he says next:

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?"

After that, the tavern had once again fallen silent, all eyes on "Jack" and the barkeeper, staring into each other's eyes with such intensity, it was almost as if they were peering into the other's very soul. Bottles and mugs of rum and ale sat on the tables untouched, as everyone had become captivated by the spectacle before them. Time had felt like it screeched to a halt, as every moment seemed to last for an eternity. Hearts were beating like thundering drums in the ears of everyone in the bar. The tension was building and building in everyone's minds until it felt like a brick weight was strapped to their chests. All eyes were on them, without flinching, without wavering, the anxiety rising higher and higher until:

"BWA HA HA! Right ya are Jack! Right ya are!" The barkeeper roared, laughing from his stomach in earnest. He slapped Jack's shoulder in welcome, every time feeling a block of wood had struck him to jack. _Bugger! Bugger! Bugger! Bugger!_

The clientele began to disperse, having been calmed down considerably by the barkeeper's reaction, returned to their seats and their drinks, but instead of returning to their song, they sat at their tables and engaged in quiet conversation, shooting the occasional glance in Sparrow's direction from time to time, as if to confirm that it actually was Jack Sparrow, a man whom they all thought was dead.

"Look at em.'" Sparrow huffed in slight annoyance, quickly looking over the room. "You'd think they never seen a man walk into a bar before."

"Can't say I honestly blame the lot, considerin' the man what walked into the bar's supposed to be dead." The barkeeper retorted in amusement, a slight chuckle still in his voice.

"Then what's say we commemorate the event by getting the dead man a drink, eh?" Jack suggested as he turned back around towards the barkeeper.

"Aye, say no more, Sparrow." The barkeeper commanded, taking up on the not so subtle hint. He turned around and kneeled down, opening the cupboard to retrieve a bottle of the Faithful Bride's finest rum. After popping the cork, he placed the bottle in front of sparrow. "If whatever hell ya been through these past years don't earn ye a free meal and drink, Jack, than I doubt nothin' will. One meal and first round, on the house."

"You are too kind." Sparrow quipped as the barkeeper went to fix him a meal. He took hold of the bottle by its neck, brought it to his mouth and wrapped his lips around the glass opening, arched his neck back and took a few chugs of the liquid, drinking it in earnest. After draining a fifth of the bottle, he removed the bottle and let out a sigh of relief. For the next couple minutes, he sat on the stool in a 

daze, thinking of his ordeal while periodically taking a swig from his drink. Then, a most unusual sound, like a thousand ship decks creaking and moaning all at once, caught his attention. He took a look to his right and saw a man slumped over the bar, snoring from what was most likely an alcohol induced coma. He rested face down on the counter, his head laid in his folded arms. He had black hair, wore a white shirt, and a plain black vest. Jack looked at the man with confusion and a hint of disgust. "Gibbs? Is that Gibbs?"

"Aye, that beached whale of a drunkard be the man known as Joshamee Gibbs." The barkeeper scowled in anger as he returned, placing a plate of roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy before the bearded Captain. "Don't bother trying to wake the pile of whale lard. The drunk's got enough liquor in him to kill half of the royal navy."

Sparrow stared at the drunken Gibbs for a moment. He then shrugged, and took another swig of rum after quipping "The man's lost weight."

"Ha!" The barkeeper roared in amusement. He handed Jack a knife and a fork, who then began to eat in earnest, devouring the food like he hadn't had a morsel to eat in years. After consuming half the meal, Jack began to slow down enough that the barkeeper thought it would be a most opportune moment to speak to the wayward pirate. "So Jack, I got to know. Just how did ye escape that island? Where have ye been all this time?"

"Sorry mate. I'm not really in the mood to go about recounting that tale just yet. Maybe some other time." He murmured as he dropped a bare leg bone onto the metal plate. "But if you want to talk, then how about you answer me questions then. Just where in the _**bloody hell**_ is me Pearl?"

"Sorry to say Jack, but nobody has seen hide no hair of the Pearl or Barbossa since they made port here years back. It was them who told that you were dead. They had with them a veritable treasure hoard, they did. Throwing pieces of gold bearing the mark of Cortés around, indulging in every little sin their black hearts so desire before sailing off to parts unknown."

"Humph. Should have known it wouldn't be easy to get me ship back." Jack growled as he scooped up a clump of mashed potatoes into his mouth, washing it down with another swig of rum. "Any chance you might know where I can take a look see at one of these coins?"

"Can't say I do, Jack. Just as quickly as they came, the gold most likely left this island. Such treasure don't stay in the same hands for too long when dealing with pirates."

"True, true…" Jack conceded, speaking in between bites taken from the last drumstick on his plate.

"Ye should just forget about getting the Pearl back, Jack." The barkeeper advised as he began to clean the glasses which had began to build up in a pile. "A lost cause it is. It shouldn't be difficult for a man like you to find another ship."

After hearing this, Jack froze, the chicken leg just inches away from his mouth. He lowered the drumstick, a look of profound sadness and contemplation had settled onto his face.

"Wish it were that easy mate." The pirate captain lamented. He stared off to the side with a soft look on his face as he began to twirl the drumstick around his fingers. "I've took charge a many a ship in my time, but none quite like the Pearl. The bond me and my Pearl have is special. When I'm with her, I feel strong. I feel like I can take on the world. When she and I are together, it's the only time I have ever felt... Free."

The barkeeper paused, and looked at Jack with confused eyes. In his long life, both as a pirate and as a barkeeper, he had never met a man who could treasure anything the way Jack could his ship. His hardened heart seemed to, for the briefest of moments, show compassion and understanding towards the man seated before him.

"Actually..." The barkeeper drawled with a heavy sigh. "There have been rumors of a cursed ship always surrounded by fog that looks much like your Black Pearl flying about. But I wouldn't hold too much water in it Jack. Tis only pirate lore, and with how drunk this lot can get, there is more lore cropping up with each passing day."

Jack sat and played with a leg bone which still had a scrap of meat while he listened, twiddling it with his fingers. After thinking for a while, he grasped firmly and finished off the last of the meat. _A 'curse' eh? Well, I never was one to put much stock in curses, but a start is a start._

"It's my ship mate. I'll be the one to judge what tale holds how much salt. And if pirate lore is all I have to go on…" Jack stated as he finished up the last of his meal. He then stood up, propping himself onto his feet by pushing against the table. He turned around and surveyed the room, a mischievous grin growing across his face. He then looked towards the barkeeper with a sparkle in his eye. "Then what better a place than where pirates go to tell their tall tales, eh?"

"Just don't be startin' any trouble, you hear me Sparrow?"

"Yeah, Yeah…" Jack mumbled, waving back at the barkeeper as he walked into the crowd to mingle.

--

"All right Boys! Read em' and pay up!" Jack Sparrow announced triumphantly, laying down his cards, revealing the eight through nine of diamonds. This brought forth a round of groans and curses spoken by others seated at his table. Four hours had passed since he walked into the Faithful Bride, the shock of his presence had long since died. While he attempted to get information about his ship from the patrons of the bar, he spent much of his time playing games of poker while conversing, cleaning out the pockets of nearly everyone in the entire establishment. His latest victory put him over the top, giving 

him enough money for new clothes and a good three weeks worth of food and shelter. As the others at the table emptied the last guineas from their pockets, Jack looked on with a satisfied smile across his face.

"Ye got the devil's luck Sparrow!" One pirate growled irritably, slamming his bag of guineas in front of Jack, obviously displeased with the night's outcome.

"Aye. You must have swiped it from him when he wasn't looking before ye got booted out of hell!" Another jested as he dropped his pouch. He seemed to be taking it more in stride than his compatriot.

"Nah, the bloke's letting me borrow his luck until next Thursday." Jack quipped back as he emptied the pouches into a much larger satchel. "Swell guy. Actually very pleasant. Makes wonderful scones!"

A round of laughter resounded as Jack stood up and walked back up to the bar, a bag heavy with coins strapped to his side. He was greeted by the barkeeper as he took a seat. He reached into the satchel and dropped ten coins onto the table.

"Well, did ye have any luck finding out about the Pearl, Sparrow?" Inquired the barkeeper as he handed Jack another bottle of rum.

"Nah, nothing. Idiots, the whole lot of them." Jack snarled before taking a drink. He surveyed the room again, seeing if there was anyone he hadn't talked to, desperately looking for a lead. His eyes were caught by an individual seated in the right handed corner of the bar next to the door. He was cloaked in a long black coat, the hood pulled over his head, preventing his face from being seen. He sat alone in the corner, a bottle to his side, shuffling a deck of cards. In the center of the table he was seated at, rested a plain blue vase, and in it was a white rose. Jack caught the barkeeper's attention and motioned towards the hooded man. "Hey, what's his story?"

"Nobody knows." The barkeeper replied plainly. "Nobody can seem to work up the nerve to talk to him. Once a week for the past year, he comes in, buys a bottle, and then goes to that corner and sits from dusk to dawn, fiddling with his cards. As soon as the sun rises, he slinks off. Not once seen him drink from the bottles he buys, have I."

"And the rose?"

"Tis the first time he brought such a thing in with him."

"Well then, he seems like an interesting gent then!" Jack said. He grabbed his bottle and got up from his seat, swaggering across the bar towards the cloaked stranger. He grabbed a chair, spun it around, and sat down in a reversed position, resting his arms on the back of the chair. "Hey, spooky! "



The cloaked man froze, stopping in mid shuffle. Jack couldn't tell if the man was looking at him or not. The leather coated individual then took the deck and inserted it into his right pocket.

"How may I help you, Mr. Sparrow?" The man asked. He spoke with a British accent, his voice deep and smooth. He sounded as if he were of noble lineage.

"Hey, how'd ya know my name?" Jack demanded, with an over-stressed note of suspicion in his voice. It appeared that the rum he had been chugging like air had begun to take its affect. He eyed the man with an intense scrutiny.

"I've been here all night. It wouldn't be difficult to overhear the occasional conversation, what with the noise you've been stirring up."

"Ah, you have a point then, my good sir!" The rosy cheeked pirated admitted. He spun his chair around once more, and adapted a proper sitting position. He leaned forward onto the table. "And it seems you have me at a disadvantage, as I have no idea as to what to call yourself!"

"I make it a point to never divulge any personal information to anyone, especially not to a pirate."

"Aye, yes! That is a good policy! Pirates aren't to be trusted!" The tipsy Sparrow chirped gleefully, stamping his feet in play. His eyes then locked onto the white rose that sat alone at the center of the table. "What's with the flower? Men have been stabbed in Tortuga for carrying such things around."

"It's…" The hooded man drawled in pause. He grabbed the flower, unzipped his jacket, stuck it inside his coat, and zipped it back up. "An invitation. And nothing that concerns you. Now why don't you cut the crap and tell me what you want from me?"

"Ah, to the point then, is it?" Sparrow asked sarcastically, a grin showing upon his face. He leaned back on his chair, propping his right leg onto the edge of the table. "See, it's like this then, I've been out of the loop for the past couple of years, and I'm not exactly in the know of what's what and what's going on in the world."

"So it's information you seek then."

"Aye, that it is." Jack affirmed. "Now, I really don't give a rat's ass about the rest of the world, but there's this one ship and man that I need a little information on, savvy?"

"And they would be…."

"A treacherous sea dog by the name of Barbossa, and the Black Pearl, the finest ship on the sea!"



The hooded man was silent for a moment, his right arm propped up on the arm rest, his head resting against his fist. Then he sat up straight, and reached into his left pocket.

"You lucked out, Mr. Sparrow." Stated the mysterious hooded one. "I pride myself on knowing what the masses do not, or refuse to, know. And as it happens, I know quite a bit about what you seek. Of course, a man like you should know as well as any that nothing in this world is free."

"Of course it's not." Jack agreed. He took the satchel from his side and slammed it onto the table. "Charge what you will. I can always get me self more."

"You're money is useless to me." The cloaked man said, dismissing the pile.

"Oh, and how will we go about this transaction then?" Sparrow inquired, his brow raised in suspicion. It was then that the coated one pulled out another deck of cards, this time from his left pocket, and began shuffling them. "You carry two decks with you?"

"The other one really isn't used for… Play." The man drawled, a note of amusement in his voice. He then started dealing out ten cards, five on each side of the table. He placed the rest of the pile to the side. "One hand, nothing more. You win, I give you a piece of information to aid you in your quest. I win, and I get to claim a prize of my choosing. Agreed?"

"No chance that I get to know what you take if you win ahead of time, right?" Jack asked, gulping nervously.

"I'm afraid not."

"Well, what choice have I then?" Jack asked himself. He picked up his cards and raised him hi. "Let's get on with it then!"

"Yes, lets." The other said in a hushed tone of agreement as he picked up his hand and raised them in front of him. The two stared at their hands, Jack often taking peaking over his hand to look at the hooded man, who was holding his cards with his right hand, tapping the table with his left middle finger in a steady rhythm. When the rhythm stopped, beads of sweat started to pour down Jack's face. The hooded man reached over and grabbed the deck. He took two cards from his hand and placed them off to the side and replaced them with two new cards from the deck. "You've had long enough, Sparrow. How many cards?"

Once again sober, Jack took three cards with trembling hands and slid them face down across the table. The cloaked man took them and threw them off to the side to join the cards he had discarded. He took three cards and slid them face down to Jack, who then quickly scooped them up and added them to his hand.



"Well, it's the moment of truth. Are you ready Sparrow?"

"As ready as I'll ever be…" Jack croaked as he grabbed his collar with his left index finger and ran it around the edge. He then reached over and grabbed his bottle of rum by the neck. "But before we show our hands, can I propose a toast? May the best man win!"

"…. Very well then. May the best man win." The cloaked man reached over, grabbed his bottle, and in one big move, took a big swig of it, lasting for at least five seconds before parting his lips with the bottle top. Returning the bottle to the side, he looked straight at Sparrow. "Are you ready?"

"Ready and willing, mate!" Jack said confidently, a gleam in his eye. "By all means, after you!"

"Four of a kind. Ace high." He announced, revealing his hand, laying them face up onto the table. He had four aces, each of a different suit, and one four of spades.

"Straight flush, king high!" Jack remarked triumphantly, revealing his hand of cards nine through king, all hearts. His advisory gasped in shock and amazement, standing slightly, leaning forward to get a better look at the hand. He kept looking from Jack, to Jack's hand, then back to Jack again in disbelief. He slumped into his chair in defeat.

"Fine! You win. But pay attention. I'm only saying this once!" He snarled through gritted teeth, clutching the ends of the armrests tightly. "Your 'friend,' Barbossa has been doing a lot of sailing lately. More so than a pirate usually does."

"And what, pray tell, is he looking for?" Jack inquired.

"Coins. Eight hundred and eighty-two of them, to be precise." The hooded man replied. "For whatever reason, he seems to be searching for the coins of Cortés. So far, he has found eight hundred and eighty-_**one!**_ A single coin still alludes him. Find it, and you'll likely run into him and your Pearl."

The dawning sun started to stream through the windows, beginning the new day. The cloaked man stood up and gathered his cards.

"Hey, where ya going mate? We're not done here yet!"

"Oh yes we are!" Snapped the figure in anger. "You won **once**, so I gave you **one** piece of information. I never mentioned how much I would tell you. Now I must take my leave. Good day to you, Mr. Sparrow!"

"Damn!" Jack snapped as the black coated man walked past him. _But it's better than nothing I guess. Best not to push me luck._



"Oh, and can I just say one thing?" the man asked, turning around towards Sparrow. Jack stood and faced him.

"Yeah, what do you want to say then?"

"I just want to mention that you live a very dangerous life, Jack Sparrow." The hooded man stated matter of factly. The deck that they had used was still in his left hand. He edged the top card out with his thumb.

"Well, of course I do! I'm a bloody pirate!" Jack hollered, chuckling all the while gesturing with his arms.

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh, and what did you mean then?" Jack asked snidely.

"You live wearing your heart on your sleeve Mr. Sparrow." The cloaked man stated plainly. Then his left hand flashed, and jack heard several small objects fly by him, piercing the air. The man's left hand was now pointed towards Sparrow, hand empty, palm open. "It makes it very easy for someone to _**steal it!**_"

With that, the man turned around and walked out the bar, leaving Jack with a puzzled and bewildered look on his face. _What the bloody hell was that about?_

"HEY!! JACK'S BEEN CHEATIN' US!" A patron called out, pointing at Jack's right arm. Jack looked to his right and realized that his sleeve had been shredded all the way up to his shoulder, revealing the holdout device that had been strapped been to his forearm, holding five cards. Jack's eyes then darted around the room, and his heart leaped to his throat when he noticed that several cards had been impaled on various tables, support posts, the floor and the wall behind him. His attention then turned to the several drunk, angry pirates who he had played cards with.

"N-n-now hold on a sec, gentlemen! I'm sure we can all find a way to be reasonable about this, can't we?" Jack pleaded nervously, stuttering. He had his arms up desperately trying to get them to stop their advancement. They continued to close in as Jack started backing into the corner where he had played his latest game.

"**LET'S CUT HIM UP INTO LITTLE PIECES THIS TIME TO MAKE SURE HE STAYS DEAD!"** One hollered, followed by yells of agreement from the crowd.

"Oh Bugger!"

Chapter 23: Side Stepped Side Story #VI: Never Trust a Pirate.: End.



Chapter 24: Side Stepped Side Story #IV: Rose red Blood! Pt-2


	27. Chapter 24

DBA is my personal project. It has been presented on other sites titled Beginning of Destiny under the name of Allstargamer. Please respect my hard work and the work of others and don't plagerize.

Chapter 24: Side Stepped Side Story #IV: Rose red Blood! Pt-2

"HOLY CRAP IN A HAT!!!" Axel yelled, barely audible through the almost deafening sound of steel piercing stone. He had barely managed to dodge Marluxia's scythe, swung at him just as Marluxia was about to reach the ground, putting the entirety of his weight into his strike. Axel's heels skidded on the stone floor as he slid on his landing. He pressed his palm against the pavement slow, down to a stop before looking up towards Marluxia.

"C'est Magnifique…" Marluxia lilted, barely audible to Axel over the ringing in his ears left by sound of Marluxia's assault on the stone floor of the area. He looked up with an unsettlingly evil sneer across his face. He straightened his posture and with a deft tug upon his scythe, removed it from the floor, leaving a rather large and noticeable gash across the tiles, along with several spider-webbing their way out from the hole. Marluxia gave it a slight spin and slammed the bottom end of his weapon onto the ground, presenting its pink blade with flare.

"Wha…" Axel croaked in astonishment and disbelief as he stood to his feet. He looked at the large and gulped nervously. He gritted his teeth in an effort to steel his nerves. Axel thrusted his finger towards Marluxia in a display of anger and annoyance. "**WHAT THE HELL?!? WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU, ATTACKING ME LIKE THAT?!? AND ANOTHER THING! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING, EVEN YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN MAKING A DISPLAY LIKE THAT! YOU JUST ENDANGERED OUR ENTIRE EXISTENCE WITH THAT STUNT! EVERYBODY MILES AROUND MUST HAVE HEAR THAT!**"

"That's much better. You know, Castle Oblivion is just so stifling. I can hardly feel my own power there." Marluxia stated tiredly as he ran his fingers through his hair, paying Axel's outburst no heed and further irritating the Nobody. Marluxia caressed the blade of "My [I]_Est Monté le Sang Rouge_[/I] shines much better in the sunlight."

"I could care less about your queer scythe! It doesn't change the fact that this terrace is gonna be flooded with people in about ten seconds, reducing the secret of our [I]_secret_[/I] organization to shreds!"

"Would you stop your screeching!" Marluxia barked with disgust and annoyance. "God, you're such an idiot! You can't even notice when a spell of area misdirection is cast around you!"

"Area misdirection?"

"Oui." Marluxia chirped, now admiring his reflection caught by his blade. He pulled a brush from his pocket and started running it through his hair as he looked in the mirror. "Tis a special type of spell that affects the senses inside or outside of a specific area. Most magically inclined beings would feel when such a spell is cast in the area they're in. But then again, I guess I'm not dealing with the smartest Nobody on the block, now am I?"

_Now that he mentions it…_ Pondered Axel, finally beginning to learn to ignore Marluxia's verbal attacks. _I did feel a slight twinge in the back of my neck right before he crashed the party. So that was magic sense. I just thought it was the creeps. I always get the creeps when he's around._

"The spell that I had cast was a bit of an improvisation of my own devising. It directs the thoughts of everyone in a twenty mile radius away from the area it was cast upon. Unless they have reason to go or pass through, they won't ever think of investigating our 'business meeting.'" Scoffed the pink haired Nobody, he gestured towards the clock tower which read six thirty. "And seeing as you came in on the last train of the day, I doubt we'll have any interruptions. Hell, we could bring in a herd of elephants and conduct Beethoven's fifth symphony with their flatulence, and other than noticing the spell, nobody would even think to notice."

_Well, that's a rather __**interesting**__ mental image…_ Axel pondered with a raised brow. Marluxia crouching down, one leg extended while another was bent into lunging position, firmly grasping his scythe with both hands, ready to strike. Axel looked on with a raised brow. "Hold on for a sec trigger! Don't be in such a hurry!"

"And why not?"

"Well for one thing…" Drawled a confident Axel, chest prominently displayed in pride and arrogance. "It's impossible for you to hit me with that scythe of yours."

"Est cela ainsi?" Marluxia inquired coldly. He pointed to Axel's right arm, prompting Axel to look glance down. He was astounded to see that the sleeve of his leather had a large cut, parting the dense hide. _When did he—_

"Well? Are you just going to stand there and make things easy for me, or are you going to actually fight? Summon your weapons!" An impatient Marluxia demanded harshly as he resumed his fighting stance, snapping Axel to attention.

"Well since you asked so nicely…" Axel retorted sarcastically, excitement over the prospect of a fight. He stretched out his right arm and clenched his hand, preparing to summon his chakram when the image of Zexion's face contorted in pain and fear as his body transformed into that of a Dusk's, something he had witnessed only days ago, flashed through his mind, stopping Axel cold in his tracks. _That's Right! The Boss doesn't want Nobodies fighting each other, and if the punishment he gave Zexy is even half of what I might have to look forward to, then this victory might be better off as the fight not fought._

"On second thought…"Axel drawled nervously, returning his arm to his side as he began to back step away from his fellow nobody. "I just remembered that I have this very important meeting with a man about a horse. Toodles!"

Axel turned on his heel and ran for the exit out of the plaza. As he was about to exit into the streets, he slammed into an invisible wall, preventing him from reaching the outside world. He rubbed his nose, sore from the sudden impact.

"What is this?" He asked himself, banging his fists against the invisible wall. "A veil of shadows?"

"Correct." Marluxia chimed, as he strolled up to him, scythe in hand. "It's a special kind of dark magic. It creates a wall of darkness, blocking the escape of anybody trapped within. I threw it up just in case, but I'd never dreamed that you'd attempt to run. Are you that afraid of me Axel?"

"**A limp wristed sissy like you? Not a chance."** barked an unhappy Axel in reply. He scowled as he stared back at Marluxia, leaning against the invisible wall. "Hell, I'd have an easier time with you than I did Zexion. I'd be able to take you down with both hands tied behind my back and nothing but a wet noodle as a weapon!"

"Zexion?" Marluxia repeated the name of the older member in surprise. He let the scythe fall to rest on his shoulder, blade facing downward. "You fought Zexion?"

"Yeah…" Axel said in a hush. "And apparently the boss doesn't like it when team members don't play nice."

"Intéressant..." An intrigued Marluxia hummed. A mischievous grin arouse onto his face, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "There is talk amongst the lessers these past few days that Zexion got some big punishment a few days ago from Xemnas. Do you know anything about it?"

"Boy, do I." Axel muttered, shuddering at the mere memory of what happened to Zexion. "I never knew Xemnas had that kind of power. I'd never wish that on anyone."

"It can't be that bad." Marluxia said, dismissing Axel's fears. "You can't possibly be that afraid of the number one idiot!"

"I am." He admitted dejectedly, but with no shame or remorse in his voice. The memory of that night had driven the fact that Marluxia had attempted to kill him moments before right out of his head. Marluxia was taken aback, as he never thought that someone like Axel would ever admit to fearing anything or anyone. Marluxia stood stunned for a moment, but then he started chuckling which slowly grew into an uncontrollable laughter.

"Unbelievable!" He jeered in patronizing amusement. "He's got you totally under his thumb! What a fool you are!"

"I wouldn't take Xemnas so lightly if I were you." Axel warned. "I'm afraid of him, true. But you'd be smart to have a little fear of the guy in you yourself. His power is beyond you and me!"

"Merde à la hausse! I refuse to acknowledge him as my superior!" Marluxia hissed with despise and loathing dripping from his tongue, a look of hatred and intensity upon his face. In one swift motion, he readied his scythe. "You truly are useless, aren't you? Better for you to disappear now then get in my way later. Don't worry though, I'll be sure to send Xemnas along to hold your leash soon enough."

"What do you—" Axel began to ask, but the status of the current situation quickly came rushing back to mind, just in time to avoid a large horizontal swipe of Marluxia's blade, jumping up and above the pink haired Nobody. Marluxia quickly rushes after him in pursuit, swing his gigantic scythe with precision and grace.

Unfortunately for him, his adversary avoided his advances every bit as expertly. Marluxia swung his flamboyant weapon horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, attempting to attack the slippery member eight, but Axel just danced around all of his attacks. Several minutes later, the entire plaza looked like a warzone. Scars were laid across much of the buildings and stone floors. Axel stood proudly on the stairs, slightly winded. Marluxia stood ten feet from the bottom step, gasping for air, using his scythe to prop himself up. The look upon his face suggested that he was very displeased at the moment.

"What's a matter Marley?" Axel inquired sardonically. You look all worn out after swinging that big ol heavy scythe around."

Marluxia gritted his teeth and glared daggers at the smirking fire user.

"Yeah, well it serves you right." Smirked Axel. "I'm one of the best fighters in the Org! You should know that broadcasting your moves like that wouldn't do you jack shit! You understand me, dingus!?"

"What?" Hissed Marluxia, enraged by Axel.

"Sheesh, and you say that I don't pay attention!" An annoyed grunted as he scratched his head. "All right, I'll draw it out for you. But pay attention! It's not every day the person you're trying to kill goes out of his way to explain it to you!"

The Graceful Assassin growled under his breath. His eyes darted around the plaza, and a slight smirk grew across his face. _Almost ready. Let him talk._

"First, you really have no fighting style to speak of. Your method of attack is to rush in with your speed and take out your enemies or victims in most cases where you're concerned, in one swift attack." Axel lectured with folded arms, eyes closed. Marluxia tightened his fist, and sprouts began to spring up from between the cracks. Sprouts that Axel had failed to take notice of as he continued to talk, his enthusiasm of fighting getting the better him. "But you can't really rely on that when fighting someone that's of equal power to you. Your attacks are too big, too noticeable. Any experienced fighter would see it coming a mile away and dodge. In a fight with an experienced fighter, you need to be using smaller attacks, which the scythe, as a weapon can't do. You need more subtle movements and a weapon that allows you—"

"Axel." Marluxia interrupted, knocking Axel off of his high.

"Huh?" Axel grunted with a confused and clueless look on his face, having now been brought back down to earth. The sound of cracking stone and earth reached his ears, and he began to look frantically around for the source of the sound. Marluxia could only smile all the more coyly.

"I know." He stated. He picked up his scythe into the air, and struck the floor of the plaza. On command, nearly a dozen enormous fly-trap like plants, each one easily three stories tall, sprang up from beneath the marble floor of the plaza. Axel looked at them, absolutely dumbfounded as Marluxia smirked triumphantly. "Tell me, Axel. What do you think of my little impromptu garden? These little beauties I call the Iron Maidens."

"Well…" Drawled an unsettled Axel, a twitch in his eye. He watched these ungodly plants bend and move in the air, as if they had a mind and will of their own. From their huge maws that appeared every bit as deadly as their namesake, a strange sappy kind of saliva oozed out. From their roots, they slithered through the air, slowly weaving between one another. "They've got your face."

"How absolutely trite. But I'll forgive you just this once, that is, if you feed my garden. I rarely have the chance to feed them, and the poor dears are so mal nourished." Marluxia scoffed, chuckling darkly. With a flick of his risk, Marluxia set them on Axel's trail, the monsters now flying at incredible speed. "Time for dinner my pretties!"

The nearest three darted towards Axel, their maws open wide, ready to swallow Axel whole. Axel crouched down and with all of his might leapt to the left, ricocheting off of a building as the three monstrous beast plants took out the stone stairs, reducing what wasn't in their maws to mere rubble.

"**And I thought Zexion was unoriginal for stealing Demyx's shtick!!!"** Hollered Axel, running across the sides of buildings, dodging the monstrous plants as they threw themselves at him, smashing into the buildings and leaving huge, gaping holes, destroying multiple floors. **"You ripped this move off of a god damn comic!"**

"What Can I say? I love Kurama's character."

"Yeah but at least—Whoah!" Axel barely managed to dodge a ferocious bite as he was perched upon a rooftop, a noticeable gash left behind. Now Axel began jumping off of the plants stems, darting and dodging between them. "At least Kurama can pull of the bishi hair!"

"Crack Jokes if you like, Axel. But some of the best ideas of our time have been pulled from fiction." Marluxia laughed, taking immense joy in watching Axel escape death by the skin of his teeth. "I was fully aware of my disadvantage against you, as well as my scythe's weakness in one on one combat. That's why I've developed this little technique, to overcome that. Unoriginal maybe, but it gets the job done."

Axel landed on the railing overlooking the town and started dashing on top of it, staying one step ahead of the Iron Maidens, them smashing the railings in Axel's wake. "When the hell did you even have time to plant these things?!?"

"During our little fight, of course." Informed Marluxia, detailing his plan with excitement. "I knew that you would have an easy enough time dodging my attacks as long as that is what you were paying attention to. While making sure you kept your eyes on where I was swinging, I dropped a seed at selected points all over this plaza, and when the timing was right, I was able to use my power to induce rapid growth."

As Marluxia chattered on, Axel had found himself in quite a predicament, as he was, at the moment, using all his strength to keep from being eaten by one of the fly-traps that had managed to corner him, wedging himself between its maws. He took a deep breath, and on the exhale, an eruption of fire came out, engulfing the plant in fire. The abomination left out an unnatural, otherworldly screech. As the beast fell, another darted up, its maw closed. Protrusions appeared, and from them, a sickly, nauseous brown liquid was spat out, striking Axel square in the back. "GAH!"

"Unoriginal except for the corrosive acid, that is. That's my personal touch." Marluxia scoffed arrogantly as Axel landed with a thud. His leather jacket was quickly dissolving, forcing Axel to hastily tear it off of him.

"Your personal touch sucks!" Axel snarled as he threw the now ruined jacket to the side, the acid reducing it to liquid and scraps in seconds. He panted heavily, resting on bended knee for a moment to recover the energy he had lost from his two close calls. [I]_This is insane! I have no idea how long I can keep this up! I never knew he had this kind of power…_[/I]

"Stop for even a second and it's all over." The assassin warned. He snapped his fingers, and the stems of the fly-traps doubled in length, granting them even greater mobility and range. Axel, seeing the Iron Maidens approach, attempted to jump away, but felt something pulling his leg down. Glancing down to investigate, he saw that green vines from between the cracks of the tiles had arisen, ensnaring his legs, preventing him from escaping. "The Iron Maiden seeds weren't the only things I had planted during our little dance. These are entirely original. On my command, the seed sprouts vines that are stronger than any steel cable, trapping them in that spot. I haven't even given it a name yet. How about…"

"Oh shit!" Axel exclaimed in a panic. In a second, the maw of an Iron Maiden scooped him up hole along with much of the sidewalk. The others began gnawing on the one that had consumed Axel, trying to find some way to fill their hunger.

"Axel's Adieu. Yes, an appropriate name, considering the circumstances." A satisfied Marluxia quipped. He dismissed his scythe and pulled out another rose, this time a vibrant red, and sniffed the enticing fragrance, savoring the aroma. He turned away from the site of where the Nobody known as Axel once stood. "Sorry mon ami, but I couldn't just hand over the red rose like I did all the others. I had to see if you were deserving of this fine flower. And it appears that you performed less than adequately on my little test. But don't worry, when I'm the new king of Nobodies, I'll be sure to bring a bouquet here to honor your memory."

Marluxia was about to depart, leaving the carnage wrought on the plaza, when he started feeling a pulsating heat. He turned around to see the Iron Maidens that had been crawling all over each start to slow down considerably. Not only that, their color was changing from green to brown. Their flesh began to crack and snap as steam started to rise. With explosive force, they were suddenly incinerated in a great inferno. Marluxia knew what a thing like his plants spontaneously combusting all of a sudden could mean for him. "Baisez-moi."

"**THAT'S IT!! I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY CRAP PUNISHMENT ANYMORE!! YOU'RE DEAD, YOU FRUITY BASTARD!"** A severely pissed off Axel barked. No longer wearing the battle damaged clothes, he now wore the same black coat as Marluxia. Fire clung to him, searing the stones around him. He stuck out his hands, palms clenched. Fire burst forth from both, spinning around into a pin wheel and solidifying into his twin chakrams. **"I'VE HAD ALL I CAN STANDS, CAUSE I CAN'T STANDS NO MORE!!"**

"N-now hold on Axel." Marluxia managed to croak through a forced smile, back stepping a little as he replaced the rose back inside his coat. "Maybe I did go a little too far. But I swear to you, I didn't mean anything by it! All I meant to do was give you a little test of your abilities is all. And guess what? You passed!"

"**I passed? Why Marley, I'm so **_**FLATTERED!!**_**"** Axel hissed loudly through his teeth. The fire flared brighter and hotter. A small wave of fire emanating from Axel poured out across the floor, changing the shattered marble tiling to molten rock, the entire plaza looking almost like the inside of a volcano. Fire sprang up all around them, trapping Marluxia in a cage of fire.

"Baisez-moi latéralement." Marluxia stammered. Realizing that he can no longer afford to play games, he reached into his coat.

"**NO MORE GAMES!!"** Axel commanded. With his incredible speed he dashed towards Marluxia, Chakrams raised, ready to rip him to shreds. **"NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO—"**

"--MAKE PEACE!!" The panicked Marluxia blurted as loud as he could. From inside his coat, he yanked two bars of Sea Salt Ice Cream, stopping Axel in his tracks merely a few feet away from him. The fired waned and declined, disappearing with not even a fizzle. The stone floor returned to its prior decrepit state. He eyed Marluxia with suspicious scrutiny and a raised brow. Seizing his chance, Marluxia continued on to attempt to appease his adversary, hoping that Axel's love of Sea Salt Ice cream would quench his rage long enough for him to be heard out. "Look, I went overboard. I realized that. I'm sorry. Now I just want to talk. Let's sit down, have some Ice cream, and just talk about something."

Axel remained still, trying to decipher the meaning behind Marluxia's sudden change of strategy. Against his better judgment, he dismissed his chakrams, took an ice cream bar, and snapped his fingers, summoning several dozen Nobodies. "All of you! Clean this mess up! I want it back to the way it was by morning, got that?"

Immediately after issuing his orders, the white leather clad creatures began their assigned chore. Axel unwrapped his bar, grabbed the collar or Marluxia's hood and stared him straight in the eyes. "You have until I finish this ice cream bar to say your piece before I eviscerate you, got it?"

"Understood." Smirked Marluxia, safely out of danger. Knowing how much Axel liked to savor ice cream, he guessed that it would buy him a good ten minutes. "Let's get out of the way of the lessers and find a place more comfortable."

Mere seconds later, the two of them ascend the remarkably unscathed clock tower, taking seats in front of the face of the clock to enjoy the last of the declining sunlight. Wasting almost no time, Marluxia jumped straight into the conversation.

"So Axel…" he drawled, admiring the sunset. "Tell me, honestly. What do you think of Xemnas?"

"honestly?" Axel repeated as he propped up his chin with his left arm, licking the bar rather casually. "I don't know what to think."

"You sounded pretty spooked earlier."

"Well, when you take to account that I had watched the Nobody turn Zexion into a Dusk a few days ago, I'd say it's perfectly understandable."

"A Dusk? Seriously?" Marluxia gasped, agog to the thought that somebody actually had that kind of power over him. "You're shitting me!"

"I shit you not my friend. I shit you not."

"Wow, no wonder you're scared." Marluxia muttered nervously. "If I saw anything like that, I would be too."

"And that isn't even what scares me the most." Axel continued on, witling down his ice cream. "What scares me the most is that I absolutely have no way of telling what he's thinking! He simulates no emotions to speak of. What are his plans, his goals? Why should I place my trust in someone if they show nothing what so ever?"

"That has always been my thought." Affirmed Marluxia, now almost done with his bar. He finished off the last of the Sea Salt before returning it to its wrapper and stuffed it into his coat pocket. "What is there to say that once he gets what he wants, he won't turn on us and keep project K for himself?"

"Some of the original six make him out to be some sort of messiah, but I don't know…"

"Then maybe it's time for us to show them the error of their ways…" Marluxia suggested in earnest.

"What do you…" Axel began to ask as he turned towards the Graceful Assassin, but the look on his face told the whole tale. "Oh no. No, no, no. Count me out."

"You said it yourself. There's no reason to trust him. If we can't trust him, then why not do away with him?"

"What you're suggesting, what you're thinking is just idiotic, stupid even." Dismissed Axel.

"Not if you do it the smart way." Marluxia retorted.

"You have a plan?"

"I might."

"What is it?"

"Are you in?"

"No."

"Then I can't tell you."

"It's suicide."

"Have you ever recalled somebody trying?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

Axel had to admit that Marluxia had a point. Nobody, at least to his knowledge, ever attempted to go up against Xemnas.

"Look, Axel…" Marluxia implored, draping his right arm over Axel's shoulder. He held up his left hand, counting off of it as he spoke. "All we need for this is two things. A plan, and people. I already have one underway back at Castle Oblivion. I just need some more people. I've sent invitations to some of the others, but I need you there with me. I want you there. And if you can bring whoever you're scouting with you well that's all well and good too."

"I'm not scouting anybody." Axel said in an attempt to dodge the question.

"Oh come now!" An annoyed Marluxia snapped. "Out of the more productive things he could have you do with your time, why would Xemnas waste it with you standing post at Twilight Town? The only sound reason is if he knew for sure that a new member was appearing!"

"I told you before. Punishment."

"Look Axel…" Marluxia sighed, rubbing his fore head. He removed his arm from Axel's shoulder and stood up. He removed the red rose from his coat once more and admired it. "I'm nowhere as inept that I would buy that load. But I won't press the matter, for now, at least. But do give it some thought. I'll be eagerly awaiting your answer."

He dropped the rose in Axel's lap and took a swan dive off the tower. With a mid air spin, he summoned a flurry of cherry blossoms, hiding him from sight. A brief gust of wind sent the cherry blossoms scattering, Marluxia gone from site. Axel saw a flash around him, and knew that the Veil of Shadows had been lifted, probably along with his area misdirection spell. He picked up the rose and investigated its intricacies, chewing on the stick of his recently finished ice cream bar. Not long after, a Nobody shuffling cards appeared.

"A Gambler?" Axel asked in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

As if in answer, a card from the deck it was shuffling stopped in mid-air and floated towards Axel, snatching it from the air. Its package delivered, it disappeared into white light. Axel took a look at the card to find that it had a note that read:

_VIII_

_I take it that you have been given an 'invitation' as well._

_There is much that bares discussion. Meet us tomorrow night at sunset hill. Tell no one._

_X_

"An invitation?" Axel read aloud. He looked at the rose left by Marluxia. "Is that what this thing is? He's got one too? Marluxia, just what are you up to?"

Before he could finish his thought, a ring cut through the air. Axel grabbed the card with his right hand, the hand holding the rose, and dug through his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Flipping it open, he brought it to his ear.

"Hello? You've reached Vexen's house of Insanity, where everything and anything is certifiably one hundred percent grade A nuts. Please name your order your mental disorder at the tone!"

"Can the comedy Axel. Where is thirteen?"

"Sheesh, what crawled up your ass and died?" Axel whispered off the receiver before returning it to reception range. "Well boss man, it's like this. The newb remembers nothing. Zilch. Nada. He knows absolutely zipp-o about his existence prior to waking up yesterday. Needless to say, this complicates things."

"That is hardly an excuse for such tardiness."

"Are you saying I should take him by force? Would you believe somebody who kidnapped you at weapon point?"

"Point given. But I need him Axel. He is imperative to my plans."

"Don't worry. I'll get him. All him having no memory means that the difficulty is amped up a bit. No memory of his past life means he has no clue as to who or what he truly is. As far as he's concerned, he's only human. But you'll have him in no time. I promise."

"For your sake, I sincerely hope you do."

"Gotcha. Anyways, why calling on the emergency line? I thought it was maintain communication silence."

"I'm getting to that. The reason I called is that lately while the Heartless continue to grow in number, our own number has shown no signs of increasing."

"That's what got you worried? Maybe we're just in a slump or something."

"We ran the numbers Axel a long time ago Axel. As long as the darkness consumes hearts, we have no 'slump.' Either something is blocking them from forming or something is keeping them from leaving Twilight Town. Either way, I want you to look into it."

"But-"

"I grant no discussion on the matter Axel. My word has been given. Carry it out."

*Click!*

The line cut off, leaving nothing but the sound of the tone. Axel's eye twitched slightly, as it dawned on him just how much of a burden he has come to bear In such a short time, he slumped in defeat, the ice cream stick falling from his mouth to the plaza below. He looked up with sad eyes and a crushed spirit as he witnessed the last of the day give way to night. He gave a heavy, defeated sigh.

"Aw man, this sucks. First the newb, then Marluxia, Luxord, and now this? When did I become the one on everybody's shit list? And then there were those guys..." He murmured to himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blue headbands he had taken from the street gang earlier that day. He knew that he was in the middle of something big right then and there. Bigger than anything he's ever seen. The sense of adventure he had been filled with earlier was now replace with one of dread. "Why me? Somebody up there must hate me…"

For the first time in his existence, Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, had reason to fear the coming of the morn.

Chapter 24: Side Stepped Side Story #IV: Rose red Blood! Pt-2: End

French Translation Key.

C'est Magnifique= It's Magnificent

Est Monté le Sang Rouge = Rose Red Blood

Est cela ainsi? = Is that so?

Oui = Yes

Intéressant... = Interesting….

Merde à la hausse! =Bull Shit!

Adieu = Goodbye.

Mon ami = my friend.

Baisez-moi. =f**k me.

Baisez-moi latéralement. = f**k me sideways.


End file.
